SOUTHERN NETHERLANDISH, PROBABLY LIÈGE, EARLY 16TH CENTURY | KING DAVID

Church of Saint Michael, Jalhay, Franchimont-Theux, until circa 1835;

Emmanuel de Biolley (1829-1892), Château des Mazures, Pepinster;

Vicomte Julien Davignon (1854-1916), Château des Mazures, Pepinster, by 1894;

Private collection, Belgium

J. de Borchgrave d'Altena, 'Collection Vicomte Davignon', in Trésors d'art religieux au marquisat de Franchimont, exh. cat., Theux, 1971, pp. 126-7; R. Didier, 'Rey David', in Lumen Canariense, El Cristo de la Laguna y su Tiempo, Estudio Critico I, exh. cat. Instituto de Canarias "Cabrera Pinto", Tenerife, 2003, no. 38; R. Didier, 'Rey David', in Stella Peregrinantium, La Virgen de Prima y su tiempo, exh. cat., Santiago de Compostela, 2004, pp. 354-55

The present statue is most likely to have been commissioned for the church of its original setting, Saint Michael's Church in Jalhay, which was built in 1515. Robert Didier (op. cit. 2003 and 2004) attributes it to Liège, based in particular on the treatment of the hair and the beard, with their soft undulating curls. The Liège workshops were slightly more conservative than their Brussels counterparts, and, therefore, still show some characteristics from the preceding century (Didier op. cit. 2004, p. 354). A dating to the 1520s, shortly after the opening of Saint Michael's church, can therefore be assumed. As a freestanding figure of King David, a rare iconographic theme in Netherlandish sculpture, the piece is impressive and of excellent quality.