AUSTRIAN OR GERMAN, POSSIBLY TYROLEAN, CIRCA 1240-1280

Christ’s figure, with its drooping head and limp body, emphasises his humanity and suffering. This resigned treatment of the crucified Christ gained currency in Germany and Austria in the first half of the 13th century, in contrast to more upright and triumphant representations of Christ on the cross of earlier centuries. The dignified figure is curved with an asymmetrical silhouette and the body is no longer rigid on the cross. His long loincloth reveals his right knee, of a type typical in the mid-13th century. The titled head, exaggerated rib-cage, the flow of the folds of the perizonium, and the extended toes, is comparable to a corpus figure in Kloster Wechselburg, Saxony, dated c. 1230-40 (R. Budde, Deutsche Romanische Skulptur 1050-1250, Munich, 1979, nos. 286-7). The present figure has a naturalness of form, exemplified by the resting of the right foot over that of the left, which can also be seen in a corpus figure in the Musée communal, Huy, and others of the period (R. Didier, ‘La Sculpture mosane de la 2e moitié du XIIIe siècle’, in Rhein und Maas, Kunst und Kultur 800-1400, Cologne, 1973, vol. 2, pp. 421-6) . With the strong eyebrow arches, squinting eyes, and delineated beard, the corpus at Huy also bears resemblance to the delicate portrayal of the facial features seen in the present figure.