A Masterly Hand / Scientia Artis 9

163 162 8 Dendrochronological Research on Sculptures from the Elsloo Group Pascale Fraiture * Introduction In the framework of the international research project on the sculptures ­ attributed to the late-medieval sculptor known as the Master of Elsloo, the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage in Brussels was responsible for the den- drochronological analysis of the works conserved in Belgium and of certain others in Dutch and German ownership. Of these sculptures, fifty-two, all of oak ( Quercus sp.) (fig. 8.1), were eventually retained for dendrochronological research, a selection based mainly on technical criteria (see table in appendix) . 1 To analyse such sculptures, tree rings must be visible on the base, which cor- responds to the transverse section of a trunk (figs. 8.2-8.5). This was not the case, however, for the figures of the Virgin and Child on the Crescent Moon ( e.g. Liège, Neeroeteren) and the Crucified Christ (e.g. Beek, Ellikom) which do not have flat bases, or for sculptures with a pedestal that could not be dis- mantled (e.g. St Gondulphus and St Monulphus in Maasmechelen). On other sculptures the wood itself did not permit analysis, either being too degraded ( St Anne with the Virgin and Child from Sint-Truiden, fig. 8.2; St Lawrence in Bocholt) or having large growth distortions (St Agnes from Siersdorf, fig. 8.3). Yet even with this reduction in the number of sculptures that could be examined, the project is exceptional, both in terms of the number of works studied and the subject itself. Indeed, at present, few dendrochronological analyses have been undertaken on sculptures carved in the ro und, 2 an d even fewer on consistent sets of sculpt ures. 3 This article presents the various kinds of information collected during this campaign. A brief explanation of the methodology is followed by a description *  Archaeologist-dendrochronologist, Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Brussels. Fig. 8.1 St Lucy, Siersdorf, Church of St John the Baptist, detail Fig. 8.2 St Anne with the Virgin and Child, Sint-Truiden, Provinciaal Museum Begijnhofkerk, inv. ST/90/001, underside Fig. 8.3 St Agnes, Siersdorf, Church of St John the Baptist, underside 8.2 8.3