A Masterly Hand / Scientia Artis 9

The style-comparative study and the difficulties and questions associated with it can be illustrated by means of a few cases. The first is the Siersdorf- Neeroeteren subgroup, the foundations of which were laid in the 1974 Horst exhibition catalo gue. 6 W ithin what was then regarded as the large Elsloo workshop, this group was seen as one of the four stylistic variants, character- ised by a schematisation compared to the Elsloo core group and a servile imitation of figures’ compositions and drapery patterns, but with a certain stiffening of postures. Other works have been included in this subgroup in addition to the sculptures in those two places. The relationship between the ensembles in Neeroeteren and Siersdorf was confirmed by recent dendrochronological resea rch. 7 It s howed that the figures of Christ the Saviour on the rood beam in Neeroeteren and St John the Baptist from Siersdorf were made from the same tree, thus probably at the same time, assuming that they were cut from the fresh wood. Indeed, these figures display a number of striking similarities (figs. 5.11-5.14). For example, the execution of the hair is much alike: it flows in waves from the crown of the head to end in one or two rows of thick curls on the shoulders and back. This rather natural appearance clearly differs from the hair of some other figures from the Elsloo oeuvre, such as the Blessing Christ in a private collection or the St John from the Ellikom church, which have parallel schematic coiling lo cks. 8 M oreover, the faces of the Neeroeteren and Siersdorf figures are very similar, both fron- tally and in profile. The eyes are almond-shaped, with one thin line in the upper eyelid and a few in the lower one, and crow’s feet (four lines) at the outer corner of each. The under lip, which is visible below the straight line of the moustache, is sharply carved and curved. The moustache and the symmetrical curling beard have been executed in the same way. Other shared characteristics are the shape of the nose, the deep, curved furrows alongside the nostrils and 5.13 5.14 Fig. 5.13 Neeroeteren Christ, detail Fig. 5.14 Siersdorf St John, detail Fig. 5.15 Marianum (choir side), Neeroeteren, St Lambert’s Church Fig. 5.16 Virgin and Child, Siersdorf, Church of St John the Baptist