Starting in Jaén Archaeological Museum, we have two pieces that are worth looking at. The Anthropomorphous Idol of Marroquies Alto (ca. 1800 BC), is a stylized ivory with geometrical features; this important trove represents the passage from a schematic abstract idol to anthropomorphous understanding, initiating the concept of volume with rounded bulk in the sculpture. The discovery of the Iberian Sculptures of Porcuna (5th c. BC) has changed the evaluation of Iberian art and culture. The ensemble was intentionally destroyed towards 400 BC and the fragments were hidden in a large ditch.
Two other works in the Cathedral are worth mentioning: the altarpiece of San Pedro de Osma by Pedro Machuca (ca. 1546), a polyptych of extraordinary quality, clear exponent of the purest Italian influence, and the Immaculate Conception Triumphant over Original Sin by Sebastián Martínez (17th c.), a painting of interesting and unusual iconography, that follows the baroque, with Venetian and Flemish overtones.
At Baeza, in the church of San Andrés, we may view the altarpiece of the Life of Christ (end of the 15th c.), a good example of painting upon wood in the Gothic Hispano-Flemish style. Lastly, at Quesada, the Zabaleta museum is well worth a visit. The most notable are a series of landscape and rural scenes of a post-cubist air, as well as the Dreams of Quesada, a series of surrealist drawings done for the Venice Festival.
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