192 - LARGE TERRACOTTA FIGURE

LARGE TERRACOTTA FIGURE depicting a saint in a draped gown. Maine, 17th century. H.: 99 cm. (Damage, restorations, and missing parts; originally painted). Bibliographic reference: “Belles et inconnues: Terracotta Sculptures from the Workshops of Maine, 16th–17th Centuries, An Iconographic Study,” exhibition catalog, Musée du Louvre, Paris, 2002. This large terracotta figure (formerly polychrome) belongs to a small group of similar sculptures attributed to various workshops active in the Maine region, and more specifically in Le Mans, during the 16th and 17th centuries. Several of these figures of female saints originally adorned the niches of altarpieces in churches throughout the region; they share the same stylistic characteristics, notably faces with delicate features and highly recognizable eyes. The relatively infrequent use of polychrome terracotta in the early 17th century is likely linked to the Italian artists present in France at that time. The best-known workshops in the Le Mans area during the 17th century were those of Charles Hoyau (active c. 1630–1640), Gervais I and Gervais II Delabarre, and Pierre Biardeau (1608–1671). A comparable female figure with similar facial features and dimensions, now in the Louvre (RF 3734), has been attributed to the sculptor Charles Hoyau.