Important Ansan saint of Siena in poplar... - Lot 32 - Pierre Bergé & Associés

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  3. Important Ansan saint of Siena in poplar... - Lot 32 - Pierre Bergé & Associés
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Lot n° 32
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Result : 9 100EUR
Important Ansan saint of Siena in poplar... - Lot 32 - Pierre Bergé & Associés
Important Ansan saint of Siena in poplar carved with some traces of old polychromy, hollow back. Standing, the saint is slightly stooped, leaning on his left leg; head elongated on a graceful neck; face with regular features with straight nose and sharp chin; he is dressed in a long belted tunic, blousante at the waist and a cloak tied on his chest, of which he holds a flap with his left hand; tubular folds of the tunic, undulating and stepped folds of the cloak. Siena, attributed to Francisco di Valdambrino (c. 1363 - Siena, 1435), first decades of the 15th century Height: 165.5 cm - Width: 55 cm - Depth: 29 cm (restoration at the bottom, head formerly refixed, right hand missing, wormholes) Ansano was the patron saint of Siena and a young martyr who died under Diocletian in 303. His iconography is almost exclusively Tuscan. There is a representation of him in the Basilica of San Paolino and Donato in Lucca, given to Francesco di Valdambrino, which shows exactly the same gestures as this one (fig.a). The attribution to this Sienese painter and woodcarver is also based on the qualities of "precious elegance" that are attributed to Valdambrino's art compared to that of his alter ego and friend Jacopo della Quercia. Both, along with others, are representatives of this Tuscan late Gothic style, and it is not always easy to differentiate between the productions of these two artists, who have been in close contact since their participation in the competition for the second bronze door of the Florence Baptistery (1401) won by Ghiberti. In this imposing figure of the patron saint of Siena, the particular distinction that emanates from this sculpture can be underlined; the delicacy of the neck, the perfection and softness of the features as well as the undulations of the short hair can be compared to a bust of a suite of four kept in the sacristy of Siena Cathedral, made by Valdambrino in 1409 (fig.b). Qualities that can still be appreciated in the later Annunciation (around 1430) visible in the cathedral of Montepulciano (fig.c and d). Despite the attack of xylophagous insects, this Ansan saint has preserved all its nobility and remains a rare testimony particularly representative of the great statuary of the cathedrals of the Tuscan region. Works consulted: Exhibition Lucca 1995/96, Scultura lignea - Lucca 1200-1425, Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Mansi - Museo Nazionale di Villa Guinigi, cat, 2 vols; Exhibition Siena 2005, Capolavori ritrovati in terra di Siena, Musei Senesi, cat. p 72-83; Exhibition Siena 2010, De Jacopo della Quercia a Donatello - Le Arti a Siena nel primo Rinascimento, Santa Maria della Scala - Opera della Metropolitana - Pinacoteca Nazionale, M. Seidel under the direction of, cat. A.14 and A.15; Exhibition Paris 2013/14, Le Printemps de la Renaissance - La sculpture et les arts à Florence 1400-1460, M. Bormand and B. Paolozzi Strozzi under the direction of, cat. I.14.
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