Luisa Roldán

[2][3][4] Roldán is recognized in the Hispanic Society Museum for being "one of the few women artists to have maintained a studio outside the convents in Golden Age Spain".

[6] Although Roldán became the Escultor de Cámara, or Court Sculptor, to the Habsburg King Charles II, she struggled financially.

[8] She was taught by her father, alongside her siblings, how to draw, utilize clay to shape figures and finally sculpt or carve in wood.

[10] She established her own workshop, together with her husband and her brother-in-law, Tomás de los Arcos, to create religious polychromed wooden sculptures.

[13] Roldán created a terracotta piece called the Virgen con el Nino, and donated it to the Accademia di San Luca, to which she was admitted at the end of her life.

[8] During her time working for Charles II, Roldán, her husband, and their children all suffered from hunger owing to a general shortage of food during the country's economic crisis.

Luisa's husband, Tomás de Arcos hoped to improve matters by applying for a position at court, but was unsuccessful.

Roldán's works are strongly characterized as possessing "clearly delineated profiles, thick locks of hair, billowing draperies, and mystical faces with delicate eyes, knitting brows, rosy cheeks, and slightly parted lips.

[7] Her pieces were widely distributed in Andalusia, as well as in Madrid, Móstoles and Sisante (Province of Cuenca), New York, London, Ontario, Los Angeles and Chicago.

Other notable works are in collections and museums: Roldán's style of art was created through her point of view of the world, her access to resources and the materials she used to cultivate her detailed sculptures.

[9] Roldán and her father, Pedro were able to make their sculptures, the Gines and Saint Joseph with the Child stable, yet light in weight by utilizing materials from different places in the world.

Luisa Roldán created the face and beard in a unique way by carving from a block of wood a mask that will eventually be joined with the back of the head.

[23] However, in the eighteenth century it was discovered that more than ninety names of women were active artists that contributed to the art in Spain and Portugal.