Italian or Southern Netherlandish, late 17th / early 18th century, after François Duquesnoy (1597 - 1643)

Eric Loncke, Roeslare (Belgium) ;

Acquired from the above at TEFAF, Maastricht, March 1987 ;

Private noble collection, Belgium.

A terracotta model of Christ Bound, now lost, appears on plate IV of the Galerie Girardon, a collection of imaginary views from the sculptor's collection published in the early 18th century. It is described, under number 36, as ‘Un Christ de terre cuite Modèle de F. Quesno’ (see A. Maral, op. cit., p. 393, fig. 322). Another example, this one in bronze, also appears in the same collection, on plate VI, framed by a statuette of Saint John the Baptist by Girardon and another of Moses by Michelangelo (ibidem., p. 397, fig. 324). The presence of two examples of Duquesnoy's model in the collections of the king's first sculptor gives an idea of the prestige attached to it. In fact, the Christ Bound was reproduced in bronze and ivory statuettes throughout the second half of the 17th century and during the 18th century. Duquesnoy was undoubtedly inspired here by the graceful contrapposto of Michelangelo's Christ Resurrected in the church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, Rome.

Among the finest beautiful ivory examples is the one attributed to Duquesnoy acquired by the National Gallery of Washington (2007.67.1). Another example, formerly in the Reiner Winkler collection, is now in the Städtische Galerie Liebieghaus, Frankfurt (see C. Thezuerkauff, Elfenbein. Sammlung Reiner Winkler, Munich, 1984, no. 12, pp. 38–39).

RELATED LITERATURE

M. Boudon-Machuel, François du Quesnoy, Paris, 2005, p. 226, no. ln.10 dér.3 to dér.4;

A. Maral, Girardon. Le sculpteur de Louis XIV, Paris, 2015, pp. 393 and 397.