Flemish, late 17th/early 18th century

carved with intricate flowing drapery, the mourning Virgin with a book in her left hand, St. John looking up to his right and with right hand expressively extended, mounted on later bases (2)

These finely carved figures of the Virgin and St. John, formerly from a Crucifixion group, reveal strong stylistic and technical similarities with ivories by the Antwerp sculptor Matthieu van Beveren (circa 1630-1690). Note in particular the treatment to the drapery of the Virgin with that of the Virgin Immaculata in the Rijksmuseum and the Pieta in the Musées Royaux d'art et d'histoire Brussels. For the treatment to the hair and hands of St. John note also the dead Christ in the Pieta and the Resurrected Christ in the Church of Béguinage, Antwerp.

RELATED LITERATURE
La sculpture au siècle de Rubens,  cat.nos 159 and 160