FRENCH OR GERMAN, COLOGNE, FIRST HALF 14TH CENTURY | HALF FIGURE OF A MALE SAINT

Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels, 21 May 1951, no. 56;

Gustaaf Vanderhaegen, Ghent, acquired at the above;

thence by descent to the present owner

This half-figure of a Saint, probably once a full-length statuette, bears a close stylistic resemblance to small-scale marble sculpture made in France in the early 14th century. The facial type, with almond-shaped eyes, and hairstyle with a fringe at the top of the forehead and undulating strands framing the face find a comparison in the marble reliefs of the Passion retable from Sainte Chapelle in Paris, executed in Ile de France in the second quarter of the 14th century and now in the Musée du Louvre (inv. no. RF475); compare, in particular, the figures of Christ at the Column and the Flagellator. A perhaps even more compelling comparison can be made with the marble Apostles adorning the High Altar in Cologne Cathedral, which were carved by Lorraine-influenced sculptors in the second decade of the 14th century. Note particularly the shapes of the beards and broad conception of the figures. It is likely that the present Saint, perhaps also an Apostle, was made for a similar context.

RELATED LITERATURE

Rhein und Maas: Kunst und Kultur 800-1400, exh. cat. Cologne and Brussels, Cologne, 1972, pp. 371-374