Suite of six small male heads in carved and polychromed ston - Lot 20

Suite of six small male heads in carved and polychromed stone from the same altarpiece. They all face slightly to the left, one is beardless, the others have beards, three with curled locks and two with slightly wavy locks, one head is tonsured. Languedoc, second half of 14th century H. 6.8 cm to 7.2 cm (fragments, small accidents) These heads all have their own expression, as the sculptor wished to individualize each figure. They were removed from their bas-reliefs at a fairly early date, given the patina of the breaks. Coming from an estate in the Toulouse region, they seem to belong to Languedoc art and can be linked to the large Narbonne altarpiece in the Notre-Dame-de-Bethléem chapel (fig.). Their altarpiece may indeed have suffered the same fate as this one, whose reliefs were deliberately mutilated in the 18th century to install a large altar with tabernacle. It wasn't until the mid-19th century, during a restoration project, that a small part of this sculpted ensemble was discovered, which has now been completely uncovered. Although these small heads date from roughly the same period, they don't seem to have come from Narbonne. Their workmanship is slightly different and, unlike the carved decoration in the cathedral chapel, there's no evidence of gilding. We also know that other monuments in Languedoc, such as Saint-Sernin in Toulouse, Elne and Albi, suffered similar savage destruction as a result of changing tastes. Works consulted : - M. Pradalier-Sclumberger, Toulouse et le Languedoc: la sculpture gothique (XIIIe - XIVesiècles), Toulouse, 1998, pp. 291-305. - Exhibition Paris 2009, Les premiers retables (XIIe - début du XVe siècle) Une mise en scène du sacré, musée du Louvre, P.Y. Le Pogam sous la dir. de, cat.75, p 229. - Le grand retable de Narbonne - Le décor sculpté de la chapelle de Bethléem à la cathédrale de Narbonne et le retable en pierre du XIVe siècle en France et en Catalogne, Narbonne, 1990.