Gonzalo Eguiguren Gallery Unveils Rare Cell Crosses by María Josefa Sánchez Morales

The Gonzalo Eguiguren Gallery in Madrid is presenting a landmark exhibition of cell crosses attributed to the enigmatic Spanish Golden Age painter María Josefa Sánchez Morales (active c. 1639–1652). This marks the first time a significant group of her signed and attributed crosses has been brought together, offering a unique opportunity to study the evolution of her artistic output, pictorial language, and iconographic variations created for different patrons. The show includes several previously unpublished works and is accompanied by a research project aimed at deepening understanding of Sánchez Morales, who has been largely absent from art historical scholarship until recently. The exhibition addresses themes of female authorship in early modern Spain, the devotional function of cell crosses, and the artist's possible connection to the Castilian painter Clemente Sánchez, active during the same decades. Through technical, iconographic, and historical analysis, the show reinterprets these works not only as private devotional objects but also as material evidence of women's participation in Golden Age artistic creation. The project involves specialists Cathy Hall van del Elsen and José María Quesada, who contributed to the accompanying catalogue featuring new research on the artist's known corpus, her religious and cultural context, and the role of women creators in 16th- and 17th-century Spain. The exhibition runs until September 25 at Gonzalo Eguiguren Gallery, Madrid.