Virgin and Child

Entry

Within its genre, the present statuette displays an exceptional liveliness. The Virgin steps boldly forward, holding a cloth on which lies the recumbent figure of the Christ Child. She supports her fidgeting child with both hands. The folds of her robe, made of thin fabric, her neck scarf and mantle flutter about her figure. Together with other stylistic traits such as the Virgin’s face and the playful interpretation of the Virgin and Child theme, the statuette can be attributed to Jan van Doorne III (1616-1663), an influential Mechelen woodcarver specialized in cabinet sculpture.¹ A small group of statuettes signed by Van Doorne displays stylistic characteristics very similar to the present piece, including a statuette of the Holy Family in the Rijksmuseum (BK-2009-29), a 28 centimetre high Virgin and Child preserved at the Art and History Museum in Brussels (fig. a),² and a boxwood Virgin on the London art market in 2001, supporting a standing figure of the Christ Child on her arm.³ Lastly, a small (h. 18 cm), standing figure of the Virgin holding a recumbent Child resting on her arm can be added to this same group of signed pieces on stylistic grounds.⁴ Today preserved at the Schnütgen Museum in Cologne, this work displays a more austere classicism, with the static, vertical folds of Mary’s dress being markedly different than the more dynamic, baroque treatment of the draperies on the Amsterdam Virgin. The two Mary figures nevertheless share the same ostensibly classical features and the motif of a recumbent, playful Christ Child resting on the arm.

Jan van Doorne III comes from a dynasty of woodcarvers and sculptors in Mechelen also related to other prominent sculptors’ families in the city by marriage.⁵ Jan van Doorne I (or ‘van Deurne’, 1532-1619), a sculptor and painter in Mechelen, was the dynasty’s founding father. Although none of Jan I’s works have survived to the present day, numerous archival citations confirm his reputation as a leading artist in his day. Similarly, no known surviving works can be attributed to the son, Jan II (d. before 1621), father of Jan III. Jan I’s widow, Elisabeth Kersavonts, went on to marry the sculptor Jan van Calster.⁶ Their son, Martin van Calster, was also destined to become a renowned sculptor. Together with Jan van Doorne I, he is also considered a key figure in the development of early-seventeenth-century sculpture in Mechelen. Both artists also strove to improve the standing of fellow members of their profession within the Guild of St Luke. Van Doorne fought for the right of sculptors to polychrome their own works.⁷ In 1657, Jan III entered the Mechelen Guild of St Luke at the late age of thirty-one. Having likely obtained his training from his half-uncle, Martin van Calster, it remains unclear whether Jan III had continued to work under his uncle’s supervision for an extended period of time, or that he was perhaps active outside Mechelen for many years. Another explanation for Jan III’s late enrolment in the Mechelen guild is that he possibly served as an assistant to his stepfather, the woodcarver Frans van Loo (1581-1658).⁸ Both were specialized in the making of small, religious-themed cabinet sculptures carved in boxwood, often similarly furnished with glass eyeballs. Van Loo’s current known oeuvre is limited to a series of apostle statuettes in boxwood, today dispersed across various collections.⁹ A number of these figures are inscribed with the date 1650 and bear the monogram ‘FvL’. Given the marked similarity in style, size and medium existing these figures and Van Doorne’s sculptures, some form of collaboration between the two sculptors is quite conceivable.

Frits Scholten, 2025