Lot 1619 Dα

Auvergne 2nd quarter 14th century

A carved oak figure of a bishop, Auvergne, 2nd quarter 14th century.

Carved in the round. With minimal remains of former polychromy. . This work is designed for a frontal and slightly lowered viewpoint and depicts a bishop seated on a simple throne with his right hand raised in a blessing. He would presumably have held a bishop's crozier in the lost left hand. The back of the figure is fully carved and includes a deeply hollowed out square repositorium to hold relics. The style of the sculpture and its reliquary function link it directly to the sculpture of the bishop Saint Florus that was originally designed for the cathedral of Saint Pierre in Saint-Flour (Cantal), but is now housed in the nearby Musée de la Haute-Auvergne and suggests that it may have been carved by the same master.
67 x 25 x 20 cm (without plinth)..