Collection particulière, France

Bibliographie en rapport :

Aleksandra Lipinskà, Moving Sculptures. Southern Netherlandish Alabasters from the 16th and the 17th century in Central and Northern Europe, Leyde, Boston, 2015

Kristoffer Neville, “Cornelis Floris and the “Floris School” Authorship and reception around the Baltic, 1550-1600”, Netherlandish Sculpture of the 16th century, Netherlands yearbook for History of Art n° 67, Leyde, Boston, 2017, p. 308-337

Franciszek Skibinski, Willem van den Blocke, a sculptor from the low countries in the Baltic region, Turnhout, 2020

Ian Wardropper, European Sculpture, 1400–1900, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2011, p. 77–79, no 24 ( consulté en ligne le 24 février 2025)

This group, delicately sculpted in alabaster, is an allegory of Charity, one of the three theological virtues, here in the guise of a loving mother seated and surrounded by three plump little children.

It was in 16th-century Antwerp where the subject flourished, as much by the most popular painting studio run by the artist Frans Floris (1516-1570) as by that of his sculptor and architect brother, Cornelis (Cornelis Floris (1514-1575)). In the deeply troubled period of the Counter-Reformation, the subject of Charity highlighted the importance of this Christian virtue of princes and wealthy prelates. The Virtues, allegorical subjects with strong moral implications, found their place in painted decors as well as in alabaster sculptures. In the form of reliefs or statues, they were often found framing tombs or overhanging epitaphs.

The alabaster sculpture industry first emerged in Mechelen in the early 16th century with the arrival of a group of artists led by Conrad Meit from Worms (1485-1550/51) and Jean Mone from Metz (c. 1485-1554), who were employed by Margaret of Austria, ruler of the Netherlands and aunt to Emperor Charles V. The political and religious instability of the middle of the century prompted many so-called ‘Cleynsteckers’ from Mechelen - creators of alabaster reliefs and statuettes - to move to Antwerp, which had become one of the main centres for the production and distribution of objets d'art in northern Europe. Many of these artists joined the workshop of Cornelis Floris. Others were inspired by the various engraved models distributed by the Floris family in the production of their own pieces made throughout Central and Northern Europe. Their works also took the form of small statuettes, true objets d'art prized by collectors and included in princely ‘Kunstkammer’.

Our artist seems to have been in part inspired by the work Allegory of Charity by Lambert Lombard, master of Frans Floris, known from an engraving dated 1550 by his brother-in-law Lambert Suavius (fig. 1). It features this endearing composition of a child standing on his mother's lap, clinging to her neck and embracing her. The other young child, standing in clear contrapposto and raising his face towards his mother, is reminiscent of the putto with the strong stance accompanying Charity attributed to Claudius Floris (d. 1548), the uncle of Frans and Cornelis, and now in the Metropolitan Museum in New York (no. 65110). Our artist, who would have trained either in Mechelen or in Antwerp, has perfectly assimilated the Antwerp style of the Floris by associating the luxury materials used in the region with the Mannerist lessons imported from Italy. The solidity of our Charity, animated by antique-style drapery, as well as the seated figure’s delicate features and hooded eyes, bring our group stylistically closer to the representation of Death that accompanies the tomb of Adolf von Schauenburg, executed around 1557-61 by Cornelis Floris and his workshop in Cologne Cathedral.