South West French, probably Hérault, second quarter 12th century

flanked by columns terminating in foliate capitals, the demi-figure of the bearded apostle, with the face carved in high relief,  haloed with radiating decoration edged by a further border with simulated bead work

Private Collection, Belgium 

Overall the relief is in very good condition with some wear consistent with age. There is some weathering to the surface as visible in the catalogue photograph. There is a reattached section to the right back of the the relief, with a small lost section to the joint at the back. There is a small hole to each arm below the shoulder and a larger hole at the back of the relief for attachment.
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The condition of this rare stone relief indicates it was protected from the elements and installed either indoors or possibly within a cloister or the wall of a chapter house. The upper part of what was originally a full-length figure, the apostle holds the remains of a book in his left hand whilst his right hand is held up in a gesture of address. The borders of his robes are edged with borders decorated with an intricate motif repeated around the collar. The face is characterised by well-defined almond-shaped eyes; both the hair on the forehead and the beard terminate in curls.

The style of the relief is close to sculptures found and originating in south west France in the second quarter of the twelfth century and is possibly by the hand of a sculptor influenced by the work of the Master Gilabertus in Toulouse. It  can be stylistically compared with  the figures of St.Thomas and St.Andrew dating to circa 1120-30 and executed for the chapter house of St. Etienne (Beckwith).  A closer comparison can be made with the apostle figure in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, said to come from a church in the Hérault region, south east of Toulouse and illustrated by Cahn and Seidel. The Boston apostle has a similar treatment to the halo as well as intricate working to the borders of the robe. A further comparison can be made with the apostle in the Brummer Collection, Duke University, illustrated by Bruzelius. In the Brummer relief the right hand of the apostle is held up, palm facing the viewer as in the present relief.  Both the Boston and the Brummer apostle reliefs have been compared stylistically by Cahn and Seidel, and also by Bruzelius, with a group of capitals from the destroyed cloister at the abbey of St.-Pons-de-Thomières in Hérault. The cloister was first despoiled during the Protestant wars of 1567, subsequently restored in 1668 before being abandoned and then raised to the ground in 1785. A double capital with scenes from the story of Emmaus and Christ's appearance to Mary Magdalene, in the Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts, illustrated by Scher, Cahn and Seidel, includes the deliniation of the eyes and the incidence of tight curls as found on our relief.  Three other capitals from St. Pons-de-Thomières are in the Louvre, with a further capital in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.  

RELATED LITERATURE
J. Beckwith,  Early Medieval Art, (London, revised ed.1969) fig. 200; W. Cahn and L. Seidel, Romanesque sculpture in American Collections, New England Museums (New York, 1979) fig. 100, p. 102, 154-160; S. K. Scher, The Renaissance of the Twelfth Century, exh. cat. Providence Museum of Art (1969) no. 31; J. Lugand, "La Sculpture à Saint-Pons-de-Thomières" in Languedoc Roman, (Zodiaque, 1975), pp. 294-7, figs 110-7; C. Bruzelius & J. Meredith, The Brummer Collection of Medieval Art, Duke University Museum of Art (Durham and London, 1991) no. 5, pp.154-8; F. Baron, Sculpture Française, I Moyen Age, Musée du Louvre (Paris, 1996) pp. 46-7; P. Williamson, Catalogue of Romanesque Sculpture, Victoria and Albert Museum (London, 1983) pp.18-9