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The tomb of Bishop Luis de Acuña (died 1495) is a Renaissance work carved in alabaster by Diego de Siloé. The lying effigy rests on a low bed whose flanks are illustrated with Virtues reliefs.
Diego de Siloé began his career as an associate of Bartolomé Ordóñez and probably worked with him in Italy. By 1519 he had returned to Burgos, where he remained until 1528. His most notable sculptures of this period include the tomb of Bishop Luis de Acuña (1519-20), a Man of Sorrows for the St Anne altarpiece of (1523), a section of the Presentation in the Temple, part of the main altarpiece in the Capilla del Condestable, executed in collaboration with Felipe Vigarny (1523-25), and the wall tomb of Canon Diego de Santander, all in Burgos Cathedral, as well as some free-standing sculptures: Christ at the Column (Diocesan Museum of the Cathedral, Burgos; another at Dueñas, S Agustín, La Visitación), St Sebastian in Barbadillo de Herreros (Burgos, La Visitación), and St Michael (Sasamón, S María la Real). The emphasis on the physical beauty of the sacred figures, the study of anatomy, his use of the proportions for the human body based on the canon of eight heads, and the exploration of expression and movement are innovative characteristics, which show the influence of Italian Renaissance sculpture; they are attributed to the impact of Michelangelo, whose work Siloé no doubt studied in Italy.
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