A Masterly Hand / Scientia Artis 9

279 Lucretia Kargère 15 278 the course of the sixteenth century, notably affecting regions like Guelders and Overij ssel. 11 Su ch comparisons are nonetheless indispensable. The parallels between the New York St Roch and the sculpture from Tours suggest that the circle of influence drawn by the Kalkar school of carving, or more broadly that of the Lower Rhine region, effectively bisected that of workshops of the Elsloo group. Stylistic Analogies Details of iconography or costume are of limited assistance to attribution, since St Roch was a popular iconographic type in the late Gothic era and his representation is more or less standard. The 1990 Sint-Truiden exhibition catalogue records thirteen late-Gothic sculptures of St Roch in Belgian ­ Limburg al one. 12 In fact the New York and Tours St Rochs present very similar costumes and general features. Both sculptures portray the culminating moment in the saint’s life. Having cared for the diseased on his pilgrimage to Rome, Roch was himself stricken by the plague and was cured by an angel and a devoted dog. The angel is positioned as if to apply a healing balm to the swollen sore on the saint’s lower thigh, while the dog offers a nourishing loaf of bre ad. 13 The Metropolitan Museum’s St Roch stands squarely on a small piece of turf, staff in left hand, his head directed slightly to his right, and his left leg to the fore. To his right is a small angel dressed in a long robe, arms and head lifted; to his left is a dog with a loaf of bread in its jaws. Although very much alike, most elements (legs, arms, staff, animal and angel) are reversed on the Tours sculpture. Both saints’ garments are of a style that was worn north of the Alps at the beginning of the sixteenth century. They consist of a broad cloak with a large collar, a knee-length jacket with a square neckline and a slit up the front from hem to hip level, and a doublet with a double row of slashing around the n eck. 14 Th e costume is well fitted with details of contem- porary masculine dress: a leather belt around the waist of the jacket, a strap over the right shoulder and across the chest that would support a bag hanging underneath the cloak, the knotted rope fastening the cloak, buckled ankle- high boots with a V-shaped slit in the front, and a brimmed hat stylishly tilted to the left over a close-fitting felt cap. The saints’ coordinated attires contrast with the exposure of the naked thigh with its wound, revealed by an opened jacket and by the stocking that sags below the knee. Although long,­ vigorously coiling locks of hair frame the face, the saints’ features are affected by malady. This is especially noticeable on the New York St Roch’s puckered lips, somewhat drooping cheeks, knit brows and lines of tightness bracketing the nose. Nor do the figures’ brimmed hats contain an effective guide to attribution ( fig. 15.3). What at first might appear to be a coat of arms on the New York sculpture is instead three generic insignia, badges traditionally worn by ­ medieval pilgrims as evidence of their completed journeys: crossed keys designating the journey to the Eternal City, a small medallion with a bearded head of a saint or a human face, and a pair of crossed staffs. The first two are also found on the St Roch in the Tours museum. 15.4 Fig. 15.4 Henrick Douwerman, St Anthony Abbot, oak, 70.5 x 17.5 x 20.5 cm, after 1521, Sint Agatha-­ Cuijk, monastery of the Crutched Friars