A Masterly Hand / Scientia Artis 9

In size and proportion, the representation of St Roch flanked by an angel and a dog corresponds to the general figure type in religious sculptures ­ produced at the time, for example the St Anthony Abbot attributed to ­ Henrick Douwerman dated to after 1521 (Sint Agatha-Cuijk, monastery of the Crutched Friars, fig. 15 .4). 15 Th e New York and Tours St Rochs are ­ positioned between angel and dog in much the same way that St Anthony stands with a crushed demon beneath his right foot and a pig on his left. In size, the New York and Tours sculptures are mostly analogous, with the New York St Roch measuring 98.5 centimetres in height, the Tours sculpture 100 centimetres. The St Anthony is somewhat smaller, measuring 70.5 centi- metres in height. Upon closer scrutiny however, the likenesses weaken. Compared to the New York figure, the features of the Tours St Roch are more elongated, the limbs are narrower, and the drapery is longer, falling to the ground at the reverse and even partially covering the dog’s back. In turn, St Anthony is more refined with flames engulfing the lower part of his robe and an ­ altogether finer orchestration of folds. In details of physiognomy, similarities abound between the New York St Roch and figures from the Kalkar school of carving, for example in the treatment of the eyes. Like the New York St Roch, many sculptures ­produced in that circle exhibit an almond-shaped curvature beneath heavy half-closed eyelids, with a sharply traced eyebrow defining the eye socket above a flat recessing plane. A ripple of skin outlines the eyelid’s upper border and the round iris is engraved with the simple movement of a gouge (fig. 15.5). Effective comparisons can be drawn with the bust of St Helena attributed to Henrick van Holt in the high altar retable in St Victor’s Cathedral in Xanten (fig. 15 .6), 16 o r the Virgin and Child attributed to Henrick ­ Douwerman in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterd am. 17 St Roch’s pinched lips, somewhat sagging cheeks and long straight nose contracted near the bridge also resemble those of Van Holt’s St Helena. The Tours figure is less amenable to comparison, given its more softly defined features, with less deeply set eyes, fainter and more open gaze, indistinct eyebrows, drawn-out face, and square jawline. The hairstyle of contemporary male figures usually frames the faces with lush, vigorously coiling locks of hair. The hair is often more compressed near the crown of the head, fuller toward the ears and shoulders, and finished on the forehead with a row of curls. Generally, the treatment of the hair is organised in a series of convex vertical strips blocked out around the head, with a number of variations for the locks represented within this system. A number of figures from Kalkar display virtuosity in the carving of hair, with continuous waves creating a winding play within each vertical strip, varying in amplitude and sweep from sculpture to sculpture. The New York St Roch, however, presents a stylised, almost cursory set of locks chiselled in sharply-defined crescent-shaped grooves, arranged in more or less synchro- nized waves (fig. 15.7a). In this regard the Tours St Roch (fig. 15.7b) bears a resemblance to the New York figure with a lack of inventiveness demon- strated in a repetitive pattern of twisted locks. 15.5 15.6 Fig. 15.5 New York St Roch, detail Fig. 15.6 Henrick van Holt, Bust of St Helena, oak, 1534-1544, high altar retable, Xanten, St Victor’s Cathedral, detail