ATTRIBUTED TO GERVAIS I DELABARRE, LE MANS, CIRCA 1635VIRGIN AND CHILD, |

Private collection, Touraine, France

RELATED LITERATURE
G. Bresc-Bautier, F. Le Bœuf (dir.), Terre et ciel. La sculpture en terre cuite du Maine (XVIe et XVIIe siècles), Paris, 2003
G. Bresc-Bautier, F. Le Boeuf, Belles et inconnues. Sculptures en terre cuite des ateliers du Maine XVIe-XVIIe siècles, Paris, 2002
 Bresc-Bautier, J. Perrin, « Charles Hoyau, sculpteur du Mans », dans Bulletin de la Société d'histoire de l'art français, 1991 (1992), pp. 37-64

The terracotta figure of Virgin and Child is in overall good condition. There are some minor restorations in various places. The terracotta has been cleaned with remains of its original blue and green polychromy in several places. There are a few rust stains or metallic remnants to her proper left shoulder. The surface of the terracotta appears more bright (like a light varnish) in several places, where the clay has crystallized during firing. A horizontal joint across the Virgin’s body at the height of her thighs, is consistent with the usual firing technique of the sculpture in two parts. There are also a few firing cracks visible on her back, with three circular vent holes used to hollow out the terracotta. A few minor chips and losses to the edges of the Virgin’s drapery consistent with age and handling with some minor repairs and fillings in several places. The thumb of Virgin’s proper left hand is replaced, and fingertips missing to her index and middle finger. The tip of her proper right thumb is missing, and the Virgin’s proper left foot is incomplete. There are some lacks and restored damages to the rear corner of the square base. The Child’s head, which has been modelled separately, has been reattached. His proper right lower arm and the toe tips of His proper left foot are missing; the toes of his proper right foot appear to have been restored. All in all, a very rare and desirable sculpture in overall good condition.
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The softness of the modelling, the harmonious lines of the bodies and the majestic proportions of this Virgin and Child are indubitably the work of one of the leading workshops of sculptors and modellers active in the middle of the 17th century, in the former province called Maine – comprising the current departments of Sarthe, Mayenne, and part of Anjou and Perche. The first workshops to settle down in Le Mans at the end of the 16th century are characterized by an adapted mannerism style. Germain Pilon's Virgin and Child set the example for representation which was to influence generations of sculptors in Maine from 1570 onwards, when it was placed in the Couture Abbey (now in Le Mans Cathedral). Among the most influential workshops active in the first half of the 17th century were those of the Delabarre family, Charles Hoyau and Pierre Biardeau. They were organized in family structures and dominated by dynasties of modellers connected together by multiple marriages. The longest established dynasty was that of Gervais I Delabarre (circa 1560 / 1570-1640) and his sons, Gervais II (1603-around 1650) and Louis (1612-1655), and his grandson, François (1629-1688). Therefore, the attribution of a terracotta to a specific Maine workshop is complex, since documentary sources are limited and family traditions perpetuated from one generation to the next and from one workshop to another.

The emergence and vitality of Maine's artistic centers was the consequence of a troubled religious context which had previously resulted in widespread destruction. Moreover, the following Counter-Reformation motivated a renewal of medieval religious models and subjects. The Virginal cult grew to new heights and the number of her representations increased. The education of the Virgin, her marriage, the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Virgin and Child, the Dormition and the Assumption were all subjects produced by the Maine workshops.

The ample silhouette of our Virgin and the draperies of her mantle stand out from the mannerist canon of the early 17th century. It seems rather the work of a sculptor active in the second quarter of the century, in the circle of Charles Hoyau and, even more closely, of Gervais I and Gervais II Delabarre. The classical features of her face, her majestic attitude and the gesture of the Child's hand demanding the breast are found in the Virgin and Child of St. Peter Cathedral, in Poitiers, and that of St. Denis d'Orcques, both by Gervais I Delabarre. It can also be compared to those of Notre-Dame des Vertus, in La Flèche, and Saint-Martin of Rouez, both by his son, Gervais II. Fired in a potter's oven filled with all kinds of dishes, our terracotta bears the expected dripping and splashing of the glaze coating from these articles of every day use.