A Masterly Hand / Scientia Artis 9

225 Arnold Truyen 11 224 11.5 a 11.5 b has two cores. The tree used for this sculpture has grown irregularly and just below Anne’s right knee it can be seen where a branch once grew. This statue has not been subject to dendrochronological examination. The Christ Child, Anne’s right hand, and Mary’s hand with the grapes have all been made separately. Christ’s loincloth is a nineteenth-century addition made of lead. The bottom of the statue has been affected by mould and wood- worm. As on the previous statues, no traces of a workbench have been found which could be used as a reference in comparative study of other statues. The St Anne with the Virgin and Child from Amsterdam This statue was acquired in 1874 from the collection of notary Charles Guillon of Roermo nd. 18 It is 82.5 centimetres high, 48.8 centimetres wide and 22.2 cen- timetres deep (fig. 11.6a). It was made from a single block from a trunk that was slightly curved. There is no indication that the figures were carved sepa- rately, even though this would have been a simpler option for the woodcarver. Fig. 11.5 St Anne with the Virgin and Child, Montfort, St Catherine’s Church a Front b Back