Gothic Sculptures

Finely carved mythological subject in limestone with Cornucopia associated with the harvest, prosperity, or spiritual abundance. Excellent condition. Measurements: Statue cm 160, ba...

Inspired by amateur archaeologists such as Heinrich Schliemann who discovered Troy and by past elaborate hoaxes like that of the Piltdown Man, Joshua travels the world performing sta...

OUTSTANDING MADONNA Bavaria Around 1515/20 Lime wood carved Original, polychrome version Height 60 cm This masterfully carved, full-round Madonna was created around 1515-20 in...

White stone head in the art deco style. Born in Lithuania at the end of the nineteenth century, Boris Lovet-Lorski studied art at the Imperial Academy of Art in St. Petersburg before working briefly as an architect. He immigrated to New York in 1920 and became an American citizen five years later. His sculptures epitomize the ideals of the Art Deco decades: comprised of sleek lines and smooth surfaces, the streamlined compositions reflect the new technological forms of the machine age. Despite their modernist treatment, Lovet-Lorski’s elegant, stylized figures reference both ancient and classical sources and are characterized by a universal and serene sensibility. Concentrating on figural busts, familial groups, and standing female nudes as his subject matter, the artist rendered them in a variety of media. The materials range from the traditional bronze and marble to exotic woods and unusual stones; each is carefully selected so that its surface texture and color contribute to the emotive aura of the work. Carved out of a block of limestone, Untitled (Head) depicts a female visage nearly androgynous in its idealization. The delicate features of her face, the long, straight nose, thin pursed lips and high cheekbones, are made even more diminutive by the massive bulk of the stone that serves as their backdrop. The prominent widow’s peak of her hairline and the strong arch of her brow, two of Lovet-Lorski’s most distinctive characteristics, are elongated to accentuate the linear rhythms of the composition. The layers of her hair are delineated by stepped striations reminiscent of archaic precedents, which meld into structural columns and connect the form architecturally to the stone’s mass. Unlike the majority of Lovet-Lorski’s sculptures, in which the heads of the figures are tilted to the side or downward to convey a pensive mood, the woman in Untitled (Head) looks straight ahead. Her frontal positioning gives the composition a nearly perfect symmetry, in turn endowing the work with a still, eternal sensibility. The notched surface of the surrounding limestone stands in sharp contrast to the smoothness of her skin. In the twenties, the artist tended to finish his sculptures to a highly polished degree of refinement, but in the thirties he began to experiment with contrasts of texture and the aesthetic of the fragment. In this respect, the work is vaguely evocative of Egyptian funerary sculptures, in which the figures were carved with an eye for three-dimensionality but were left intact in a larger piece of stone to give them physical durability and permanence. Embodying classical ideals of stoicism and universal beauty, the sculpture ultimately exudes a surface allure that is difficult to resist. A similar example of this approach can be seen in the 1937 sculpture Diana, which resides in the permanent collection of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C. Carved from a piece of black Belgian marble, the work is a stylized bust of the Greek goddess Diana...

They may be damaged and battered, but real historic objects will always give you a sense of awe. Can you sense it, looking at this ancient carved granite which depicts, as it is call...

Designed as entrance guardians, this pair of mythical lady sphinx statuary display the head and chest of a neoclassical woman and the body of a recumbent lion on a rectangular stone ...

Beautiful Saint-Jean in oak wood carved from the Gothic period. Standing, his left leg bent, he is dressed in a dress tied at the waist with a belt and a coat with a chest strap. The...

ROMAN MADONNA “Sedes Sapientiae” Auvergne Around 1175/80 Pine wood Polychrome remains Height 44 cm This depiction of the Madonna is a masterfully carved, extremely early figure made...

Large crowned queen's head with trace of polychromy in half-bump. The crown features a fleur-de-lis and cabochons. The almond-shaped eyes are framed by well-marked eyelids with incis...

This unique cyanotype on limestone was created by Alexandre Onimus during a art residency in Versaille, France. The artist: Alexandre Onimus is a contemporary artist and photograph...

Virgin of the Annunciation Burgundy, cercle of Claus de Werve (Haarlem? - Dijon, 1439) Early 15th century Walnut carved in the round Hight: 60 cm The Virgin Mary stands, her right ...

St. Catherine Cologne Around 1370/80 Carved lime wood Original version Height 49,5 cm