Attributed to the Circle of François Girardon, (1628-1715), French, second half 17th century

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Description

François Girardon
A Limewood Figure of St. John the Baptist

with right hand raised and looking up, the bearded saint with bare torso, his sheep skin robes falling on soft folds swept up about his feet, the back open

Literature

Catalogue Note

The treatment of the drapery can be closely compared with the drawing of Jupiter by Girardon illustrated by Souchal (p.20b) which formed part of the designs for the French ship-of-the-line Le Dauphin Royal. A near contemporary of Girardon who might be considered a candidate for the present work is Jean-Baptiste Poultier (1653-1719), whose career was heavily involved in royal work-sites. He was accepted by the Academie Royale in 1683 on the presentation of wood models of the Virgin and St. John, for which Le Brun had supplied the designs. His commissions included secular as well as ecclesiastical works.

RELATED LITERATURE
F.Souchal, French Sculptors of the 17th and 18th Centuries. The Reign of Louis XIV. G-L, Oxford 1981, p.29 and M-Z (1987), pp.153-178
A.Klidis, François Giradon: Bildhauer in Königlichen Diensten 1663-1700, Weimar, 2001