Statuette en bois dit de Lot n° 144

Wooden statue of "Saint Lucy" or "Bagard representing Georges d'Aubusson de la Feuillade, bishop of Metz, wearing a mitre and holding the crosier in his left hand. It rests on a quadrangular base decorated with his arms 17th century (restorations, cracks, missing the crosier) Height : 25 cm In 1689 (League of Augsburg) and 1709 Louis XIV asks his subjects, to finance his wars, to melt all the objects in precious metal; They will prefer then objects in very hard wood known as "of Bagard" or "of Sainte-Lucie" of Lorraine origin, objects for the greater part of small dimension. The wood was called "Lucie" after the name of the forest, which has now disappeared. Its hardness and the skill of the Lorraine craftsmen enabled it to imitate perfectly the shapes and patterns of silver objects. Lorraine, an independent duchy, had Nancy as its capital and thus became the centre for the manufacture of these much sought-after objects. Among the most important workshops we can quote: that of César Bagard (1620-1709), sculptor of the duke Charles IV of Lorraine, or the Foulon closely linked to César Bagard. Georges d'Aubusson de la Feuillade (1609-1697) Archbishop of Embrun in 1648, then the following year of Gap, and finally of Metz in 1668, he became in 1669 the 91st bishop-prince of Metz, and this until his death in 1697. He was also appointed state councillor of the church and held a position as ambassador to the Spanish Court between 1661 and 1664. A powerful figure under the regency of Anne of Austria and Cardinal Mazarin, then close to King Louis XIV, he amassed a considerable fortune. H. Demoriane, " Bois de Bagard ", in Connaissance des Arts, January 1968, p.90-93 René Ménard, L'art en Alsace-Lorraine, Paris, 1876, p.357 (illustrated)