Netherlands merits idional, second third of the 16th century - Lot 177

Netherlands merits idional, second third of the 16th century Theological virtue: the Charity or Virgin and Child accompanied by St. John Statuette in high relief alabaster. Accidents and restorations (especially the lower part of the clouds and the head of the young woman). H. 29.5 cm on a beige veined marble base. Related works: Cercle de Jacques du Broeucq, Southern Netherlands, La Charité, alabaster, H. 61 cm USA , Saint Louis Art Museum, n°inv. 64.1928. Cercle de Jacques du Broeucq, Pays-Bas méridionaux, La Charité, alabaster with traces of gilding, H. 54 cm, USA , Metropolitan Museum of New York, n°inv. 65110. Related literature: Aleksandra Lipinskà, Moving Sculptures, Southern Netherlandish alabasters from the 16th to 17th Centuries in Central and Northern Europe, vol. II , Brill, Leiden, Boston,2014. Ethan Matt Kavaler, Frits Scholten, Joanna Woodall, Netherlands Sculpture of the 16th Century, Brill, Leiden-Boston, 2017. This delicate alabaster statuette is a rare testimony to the production of the Southern Netherlands during the Renaissance, as evidenced by details of the young woman's costume and hairstyle inspired by the fashion of the 1520s and 1530s. The influence of Italian Mannerism increasingly replaced the Late Gothic style, to such an extent that it is difficult to be positive about the iconography of this work. It seems to be a Virgin and Child accompanied by St. John. The attitude of the Child ready to release his mother's womb and the presence of a cloud of clouds on which the Virgin is sitting suggest this. However, this composition in contemporary fashion could just as well represent the allegory of Charity. This theological virtue corresponds to a theme highly prized in the Renaissance. Made in alabaster, an expensive material that was sought after in the context of major commissions by workshop