Head of Saint Peter mitred in limestone sculpted... Lot 12
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Head of Saint Peter mitred in limestone sculpted in the round with minimal traces of polychromy. Glabrous face with large almond-shaped eyes with tapered ends, mouth with thin lips and a kind expression; locks of hair protruding from the mitre and forming a rounded fringe above the forehead as well as legs in front of the ears; short triangular mitre with a single dewlap hanging from the neck.
Cotentin, mid 14th century Height: 33.5 cm
(slight accidents, small restorations on the edge of the mitre)
Book consulted: Du ciseau du sculpteur au sourire des saints - Sculpture gothique de la Manche (XIIIe-XIVe siècles), Collection Patrimoine, 2005, p 164-165.
In the Cotentin region, there are several examples of carved stone representations of Saint Peter dating from the 14th century to which this beautiful mitred head can be linked. Also wearing a short, triangular, conical mitre, the first pope is often depicted in this region as beardless, as here, with almond-shaped eyes stretched towards the temples. One thinks in particular of the mitred head in the church of Beaumont-Hague (Manche), which is similar to the enthroned Saint Peter of Mesnil-Aubert (Manche) and that of the parish church of Le Fournet (Calvados).
The nature of the stone analysed by a geologist supports this hypothesis: "fine limestone, light yellowish white, containing very small yellow dots and remains, unidentifiable, of foraminifera. It may be a Middle Jurassic limestone [which may correspond] to a very fine facies of the Caen stone."
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