Southern school of Germany, around 1475. "Saint Sebastian" Carved, polychrome and golden wood.

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OLD MASTERS & SCULPTURE - Day 2

By Setdart Auction House

Jun 1, 2021

Set Reminder 2021-06-01 09:45:00 2021-06-01 09:45:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : OLD MASTERS & SCULPTURE - Day 2 https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/setdart-auction-house/old-masters-sculpture---day-2-6999
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• Lot Description
  Southern school of Germany, around 1475. "Saint Sebastian" Carved, polychrome and golden wood. 83 x 27 x 21 cm. Image of round bulk carved in wood and polychrome, with purity cloth and golden hair, framed within the South German school and dated around 1475, at a time when the Gothic tradition of the late Middle Ages coexists with the innovations that begin to arrive from the Italian Renaissance. Thus, we see an image still with symbolic conventions, such as the face, but already marked by an anatomical naturalism of classicist roots that translates into a less stylized proportion than that of the Gothic, in a more detailed work of anatomy and a face that seeks the individualization of the character. The posture also stands out, with one leg in front of the other, following the models of classical statuary, replacing the feet together of medieval sculpture. The Germanic sculpture of the last century of the Gothic period left behind the short canon and the somewhat popular style through the influence of the innovative Dutch tendency. This influence is reflected in the undulating or angular forms of the folds of the garments, and in the delicate tenderness exhibited by certain female figures. The Virgin, like many saints, will now be represented as a girl, both in the images of the Pietà and in those of the Virgin with the Child in her arms. These representations will acquire in the Germanic school, from 1400, a very refined beauty, both in Southern Germany and in Austria and Bohemia, as exemplified by the so-called "Beautiful Virgins" that spread as far as Poland and the Baltic lands. But it was not until around 1430 that differentiated schools appeared in Germanic sculpture, especially in the southern part of Germany, above all in Bavaria (Nuremberg) and Swabia. The first fundamental figure will be Hans Multscher, an Austrian sculptor and painter born in Allgáu and established around 1427 in Ulm, who initiated the Swabian school. Another exceptionally gifted master would eventually stamp a seal of delicate idealism on Germanic sculpture immediately preceding that of the late Gothic. Nicolas Gerhaerts was Dutch by birth, but worked in Germany and Austria. He made works such as the Crucified of the old cemetery of Baden-Baden (1467), a work that reveals very clearly how its author had assimilated the influence of sculptural progressivism, both from Flanders and Burgundy. Later he moved to Vienna, where he carved a luxurious tombstone in red marble of Emperor Frederick III, in St. Stephen's Cathedral. Thanks to this sculptor and to skilled wood carvers, such as Jórg Syrlin (author of the carvings of the choir of the cathedral of Ulm), that maturity in Germanic sculpture was established which is shown in numerous images and altars of the great sculptors of the last years of the 15th century and the first decades of the 16th century, already referents of the first Renaissance in the Germanic countries thanks to their new conception. Born in Gaul and raised in Milan, Sebastian was a centurion of the first cohort at the time of Emperor Diocletian (late third century - early fourth century). Denounced because he exhorted his friends Mark and Marcellinus to remain firm in their faith, by order of the emperor he was tied to a post in the center of the field of Mars, and served as a live target for the archers who assaulted him. But he did not die for it. The widow Irene, who wanted to raise his body for burial, noticed that he was still breathing, bandaged his wounds and saved his life. After his cure he reappeared before Diocletian to reproach him for his cruelty to the Christians. He was then scourged, beaten to death in the circus and his corpse was thrown into the Maximian sewer. Shortly afterwards, St. Sebastian appeared to St. Lucila in her sleep to reveal to her the location of his remains, and asked her to bury him in the catacombs.
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