March 2010 - Xavier Bray, assistant curator, European paintings, National Gallery, London, and Mary Levkoff, curator of sculpture and decorative arts, National Gallery of Art, Washington. In 17th-century Spain, a new kind of realism in art emerged. In order to revitalize the Catholic Church, painters and sculptors worked together in an attempt to make the sacred as realistic and accessible as possible. In the first of this two-part podcast series, produced on the occasion of the exhibition, Mary Levkoff talks with curator Xavier Bray about the history, uses, and techniques of polychromed sculpture.