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ca. 1370-1380 - 'St. George', Southern France, reserve collection of the Musee de l'orfevrerie, Domaine du Chateau de Seneffe, Belgium
A beautiful silver St. George, with some enamel parts on the hip-belt, from the south of France, possibly from the region around Rodez. It could have been made for the court of Bonne of Berry (°1362/65), duke Jean de Berry's daughter.
St. George wears a hauberk, with short sleeves in the Italian fashion, with an extra protection of mail for the area around the groin, a mail standard, a breastplate (or globular coat-of-plates) covered by a jupon, and plate armour for the limbs. Gauntlets of fabric depicting a cross are worn instead of plate "hourglass" gauntlets. Note that the leg-armour is only covering the front part of the thighs and shins and no additional lames are worn in between the poleyn and the greaves and cuisses, nor in between the couter and vambraces and rerebraces. The wings of the couters and poleyns are in a peculiar spade-shape. Also note the red enamel on the hip-belt, traces of the same colour can be found in the saint's hair as well. The lance is lacking, and the pedestal is of a later date.
The museum label dates this St. George around 1385, but the statuette was probably made some ten years earlier.
Pictures taken at the exhibition "L'Homme, le Dragon et la Mort. La Gloire de saint Georges" in Le Musee des Arts Contemporains, Le Grand-Hornu, Boussu, province of Hainaut, Belgium (October 18th 2015 - January 17th 2016).
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City: Seneffe[fusionnee]
Institution: Fondation Culturelle du chateau de Seneffe
Objet (type): statue religieuse, statue humaine
Title: Saint Georges terrassant le dragon
Author: inconnu (sculpteur)
Production (place): France meridionale
Date: 1385 (ca)
Provenance: D'Allemagne, Juliette et Claude [collection]
Materials: argent, email[f], marbre
Technique: repousse, dore, taille[pierre]
Dimensions: hauteur 57.5 cm
General remarks: ceinture en argent dore et email, socle en marbre, probablement par un atelier Rutenois (Sud de la France ?)
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