Lot 1631 Dα

Probably Bavaria around 1500

A carved wood figure of John the Baptist, presumably Bavaria, around 1500

Carved three-quarters in the round, the reverse flattened and hollowed out, the shoulders and back of the head only loosely worked. With partially overpainted older polychromy. This impressive large format work depicts the saint dressed in a lamb skin, pointing with his right hand towards the Lamb of God laying on a book held in his left hand over his hip. He stands in contrapposto with his right foot extended upon an earth mound plinth, leaning back slightly at the waist and facing right. The high quality of the carving is particularly evident in the detailed rendering of the figure's hair and beard, as well as in the varied depiction of the lamb's pelt and the artful drapery of the floor-length cloak, which he wears drawn over the shoulders and fastened across his body.
With only minor wear, one minor loss to the left side of the plinth, a toe of the right foot reattached. Height 136 cm.