Statue de Sainte Agnès

The building with a religious vocation must serve several functions. Most often communal, it must be able to accommodate the members of the religion that inspires it and, through its decorations, remind them of the theological framework of this spiritual space. The architecture should therefore be ordered not to the search for aesthetics but to a sacred function. Nevertheless, the Middle Ages hired its best engineers and artists to try to create a median space with the celestial Jerusalem until it provoked a reaction of rejection, the Reformation, at the end of this period. The statue of Saint Agnes is a fine example of this artistic finesse in the service of the divine. Originally enhanced with bright colors, it must have been part of a more extensive decoration.

Circa 1520-1530 Avesnois limestone, traces of polychromy The identification of the statue was made possible by the presence of hooves on the left side of the figure's dress: they are the remains of a lamb, the attribute of Saint Agnes, a Roman martyr of the 4th century. The young woman is richly dressed in the fashion of the early 16th century. The sculptor has taken care to render the details of the garment such as the right sleeve or the jewelry. The work was originally enhanced with polychrome (paint applied to the surface). The flat back and forward leaning head indicate that it was placed against a wall or in a high niche. The orange-pink color visible on the garment is called a filler: it is a product that is applied to the statue as an undercoat, before the color is applied.