A Masterly Hand / Scientia Artis 9

which the marks are the same distance apart, suggesting that they were made on the same workbench. On other sculptures in these places, however, different workbench traces have been found, indicating the use of other work- bench types. These technical and stylistic correspondences emphasise the liaison between the Neeroeteren and Siersdorf sculptures. Can we assume that they were all produced in the same workshop? If so, it must have been a shop capable of producing a large number of high quality sculptures in a ­ comparatively short time and in which different types of workbenches were used. This could mean that it was an enterprise of substantial size. Further- more, it probably received important commissions from high-ranking­ clients. The Siersdorf Church of St John the Baptist, for example, belonged to a ­commandry of the Teutonic Order, while the Neeroeteren church was dependent on the influential Thorn Abbey. Fig. 5.28 St Barbara, Reppel, St Willibrord’s Church Fig. 5.29 Virgin and Child on the Crescent Moon, Bocholt, St Lawrence’s Church 5.28 5.29