{"id":629,"date":"2021-03-31T15:00:15","date_gmt":"2021-02-16T16:14:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mrplwpw.cluster030.hosting.ovh.net\/product\/exceptionnel-bas-relief-en-bois-sculpte-polychrome-representant-le-loup-garou-et-saint-georges\/"},"modified":"2021-04-19T17:43:29","modified_gmt":"2021-04-19T15:43:29","slug":"exceptionnel-bas-relief-en-bois-sculpte-polychrome-representant-le-loup-garou-et-saint-georges","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/www.gabrielle-laroche.com\/en\/product\/exceptionnel-bas-relief-en-bois-sculpte-polychrome-representant-le-loup-garou-et-saint-georges\/","title":{"rendered":"EXCEPTIONAL POLYCHROME LIMEWOOD LOW RELIEF REPRESENTING THE WEREWOLF LEGEND AND SAINT GEORGE"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This surprising low-relief, in a very fine condition, was made during the 16<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span> century probably in W\u00fcrtzburg in the Main Valley, Lower-Franconia where a characteristic school of sculpture flourished from the mid-15<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span> century onwards.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The left-hand side of our low-relief depicts the legend of the werewolf.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

In a farm\u2019s courtyard, an unkempt man eats a child. Crawling like an animal, the man is shown turning into a voracious creature that catches and kills everything around him.<\/span><\/p>\n

Several victim\u2019s body parts are lying around him testifying of its regular attacks.
\nIn the background, a mother raises her arms in despair while her two other children seek refuge by her sides. A man is watching the scene, safely sheltered in a stable.
\nFurther in the back appears a large city.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The right-hand side of the panel represents the legend of Saint George.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The young Tr\u00e9bizonde<\/b>, born a princess, lavishly dressed, is depicted in the bottom part of the low-relief, praying on her knees. She is kept in cavern by a dragon, of whom we can only see the head. The lady is the last victim the dragon has asked for. Indeed the lamb beside Tr\u00e9bizonde points her out as sacrifice.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the tortuous path, Saint George is riding a white horse with the princess he freed from the monster. Tr\u00e9bizonde\u2019s parents brings are awaiting for them from the top of a tower.<\/span><\/p>\n

The crossbowman on the right evokes Saint George\u2019s fight against the dragon.<\/span><\/p>\n

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This low-relief was made after to woodcuts by Lucas Cranach the Elder<\/b> (1472-1553).<\/span><\/p>\n

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The first one is the famous \u201cDer Werwolf<\/b>\u201d (162×126 mm), produced by the artist himself around 1512. One exemplar of this engraving is kept in the Cabinet des Estampes in Strasbourg (France). This woodcut has inspired the left-hand part of our low relief.<\/span><\/p>\n

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With no other equivalent in the work of Lucas Cranach the Elder and quite rare in the iconography of this period this peculiar picture might have found inspiration in one of Ovid\u2019s Metamorphoses, the king Lycaon turned into a wolf by Jupiter (Cat n\u00b0 IV 1). In medieval stories and sermons, such as Geyler de Kaisersberg\u2019s, the werewolf is defined as a savage man, embodying animal\u2019s primitive instincts and danger. As such he was closely related to the devil.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDer Werwolf\u201d had a mirror woodcut depicting Saint George<\/b> killing the dragon<\/b>. This image has inspired the right side of our low relief and sheds a new light on the panel\u2019s symbolic meaning.<\/span><\/p>\n

The panel is divided by leafless tree in two distinct parts, highlighting the antagonism between man and animal. The animal\u2019s bestiality and foul instincts and on the other side the civilised man embodied by Saint George. He stands as the miles christianus that is the Christian knight.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed Saint George was adopted as patron saint by the crusaders in the Holy Land after the siege of Antioch in 1097. From then on Saint George was considered a model of chivalrous virtues.<\/span><\/p>\n

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A social reading of these woodcuts and of this low-relief must also be done:<\/span><\/p>\n

Cranach the Elder was Frederick III elector of Saxony\u2019s court painter. While Saint George is the patron saint of the nobility he also acts as a model of virtue for the peasants. Plus on the background, the high perched castle gives a topographic and symbolic vision of the elector\u2019s leading role.<\/span><\/p>\n

Saint George was also the patron saint of archers and crossbowmen, armourers and feather workers (making the plumes of the knight\u2019s helmets). We can see depictions of those artisans just above the princess.<\/span><\/p>\n

From the 16<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span> century onwards the worship of Saint George and its ideal of chivalry fades away with the increase of gun\u2019s use and the loss of single combat\u2019s practice.<\/span><\/p>\n

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In 1972, to celebrate the 500<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span> birth anniversary of Lucas Cranach the Elder a travelling exhibition showcasing the most famous works of the artist was produced. This woodcut Der Werwolf -reminiscence of Albrecht D\u00fcrer\u2019s Vision of Saint Eustace- was part of this exhibition which went through the following cities:<\/span><\/p>\n

– Museum of Bielefeld (23.01 –\u00a0 26.03.72)<\/span><\/p>\n

– Kunstmuseum D\u00fcsseldorf (08.04 – 17.05.72)<\/span><\/p>\n

– Wallraf-Richartz-Museum K\u00f6ln (26.05 – 16.07.72)<\/span><\/p>\n

– Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg (16.07 – 30.09.72)<\/span><\/p>\n

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Our low-relief was also exhibited during the exhibition El Salvaje Europeo<\/b> at the Bancaja Foundation of Valencia and at the Contemporary Cultural Center of Barcelona in 2004. The picture appears in the catalogues, p.18-19 of \u201cEl Salvaje Europeo\u201d (Valencia, Spanish language) and p.14 of \u201cEl Salvatge Europeu\u201d (Barcelona, Catalan language).<\/span><\/p>\n

The low-relief also featured in the story \u201cBeaux objets sur le march\u00e9\u201d from L\u2019 \u0152il magazine dated December 1965 \u2013 N\u00b0132, p.48-49.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Literature\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Hommeanimal. Histoires d\u2019un face \u00e0 face<\/em>, cat. Exp. Strasbourg, mus\u00e9e arch\u00e9ologique, galerie Heitz, mus\u00e9e de l\u2019\u0153uvre Notre-Dame, Mus\u00e9e d\u2019art moderne et contemporain, 7 avril 2004-4 juillet 2004, Mus\u00e9es de Strasbourg, Adam Biro, 2004.<\/span><\/p>\n

Represented in Cranach in Coburg, Graphik von Lucas Cranach d. \u00c4., Lucas Cranach d. J. und der Werkstatt im Kupferstichkabinett der Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg, Stefanie KN\u00d6LL, Meike LEYDE, Michael OVERDICK (Hg.), Editions Schnell Steiner, august 2020, page 313<\/span><\/p>\n

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