François Girardon, 1628 – 1715, Umkreis des Lot n° 489

SCENE OF THE CROSS 92 x 50.5 cm. In baroque frame, partially gilt, tapering to fit at top. Enclosed a copy of an expert report by Dr Charles Avery, Girton, Cambridge dated 21 January 2019. Wood, carved, gilt. Depicting Christ on the cross, Mary Magdalene, a serpent entwining the foot of the cross, and a putto with skull. This bas-relief is closely associated with the great French Baroque sculptor Girardon, as it closely resembles a large bronze version he made for his baptistery of St Rémy at Troyes in 1690 (Souchal, II, no. 67), when the loincloth is also waving in the opposite direction. Another version, listed in his posthumous estate inventory, was probably an autograph repetition that the sculptor kept in case of commercial need or for his own pleasure and/or devotion. Souchal also notes, "Several 18th-century sales list bronze figures of Christ attributed to Girardon, but their authenticity cannot be proven. Nevertheless, these are indications that his model or models were quite well known and that his composition must have been available to a woodcarver. In fact, Girardon himself was the son of a metal founder and had been apprenticed to a cabinetmaker and sculptor. An ivory crucifix attributed to him, once belonging to Bossuet, is lost and can be seen in a surviving example now in the Musée de l'Histoire de France, Hôtel Soubise, Paris (Souchal, II, p. 77, no. 113). Literature: See François Souchal, French Sculptors of the 17th and 18th Centuries, The reign of Louis XIV, Oxford 1981. (1290023) (13) François Girardon, 1628 - 1715, circle of CRUCIFIXION GROUP 92 x 50.5 cm. A copy of the expert's report by Dr Charles Avery, Girton, Cambridge dated 21 January 2019 is enclosed. This bas-relief is closely connected to the great French Baroque sculptor Girardon, as it is very similar to a large bronze version, which he created for his baptistry St Rémy in Troyes in 1690 (Souchal, II, no. 67), even if the loincloth in the present example is facing in the opposite direction. Literature: cf. François Souchal, French Sculptors of the 17th and 18th centuries, The reign of Louis XIV, Oxford 1981.