Strange iconographies: Saint Dimas in Glory, a little known thief

Abstract

The consequences of the disentailment of Mendizábal meant the destruction and in the best possible case, the dispersion of a great part of the artistic sculptural heritage that, until now, had been kept in monasteries and convents in Madrid. In this paper, we will look at the image of the “Good thief” in the Incarnation church of Bailén in Jaén - highly valuated localy, but otherwise lesser known further afi eld. We will consider its identification with that which belonged to the Merced Calzada convent in Madrid, an art work of the Toledo-born sculptor Juan Pascual de Mena (1707-1784) who later settled in Madrid. We will also try to reconstruct, if and where possible, the route the sculpture took from Madrid to Bailén.