A Masterly Hand / Scientia Artis 9

predella of the alabaster high altarpiece made by Pere Joan for Zaragoza ­ Cathedral in 1434-1445 includes scenes from the lives of both St Valerius and St Vincentius. The Miracle of the Skull of St Valerius shows an exorcism before an altar bearing the skull of St Valerius in which the general disposition of exorcised figure, bystanders and setting are similar to the Audley End scene; although the person being exorcised is female, according to legend it should actually be a m an. 42 M odifications to the Audley End scene suggest that it could originally have been rather closer to the Zaragoza Miracle of the Skull. The back of the relief has been re-cut into a sort of shelf form between the canon and the adjacent young man, disguising a loss: here there was evidently a missing figure or altar, and either could have displayed the miracle-working skull of St Valerius. Such a detail might have appeared sufficiently puzzling or repugnant to warrant its removal in the nineteenth century. A small repaired section of the base near the knee of the fallen man could disguise the loss of a demon departing from the exorcised man just as the dragon-like demon escapes the exorcised woman at Zaragoza. Although saints are sometimes rep- resented symbolically attending their posthumous miracles, neither Valerius nor Vincentius appear in the Zaragoza scene. Their presence in the Audley End scene might have been required in order for the narrative – and the dedication of the altarpiece – to have been understood outside Aragon. The rarity of the scene and the individualism of this Elsloo sculptor might help to account for its peculiarities. Fig. 7.4 Scene from the Life of a Saint, Audley End (Essex) a Front b Back 7.4 a