An Antique Carved Oak and Polychrome Figure of Saint Roche, Franco-Spanish, Circa 1600

A rare and expressive carved oak figure of Saint Roch (the correct spelling of the name rather than the Anglicised "Roche"), of Franco-Spanish origin and dating to circa 1600, retaining substantial traces of its original polychrome decoration in red, ochre and black.

The saint is depicted in his most recognisable guise: that of the pilgrim, wearing his characteristic broad-brimmed hat, his hair falling in carved waves to the shoulders, with a short cape or pelerine over a belted tunic. With his left hand, he gathers and lifts the hem of his garment to reveal the plague sore upon his thigh — the defining gesture of his iconography, and the very image through which generations of the faithful recognised and invoked him.

Roch of Montpellier (c.1295–1327) devoted himself to the care of plague victims while on pilgrimage to Rome, contracted the disease himself, and — according to his legend — survived it, sustained in his forest exile by a dog who brought him bread. Although he died before the Black Death of 1347–49, it was in the centuries that followed, as epidemic disease returned again and again to European towns, that his cult flourished. By the sixteenth century, images of Saint Roch were among the most widely commissioned of all devotional figures — placed in churches, confraternity chapels and private households as both protector and emblem of hope: a saint who had suffered the scourge and lived.

The present figure speaks with the directness of provincial workshop carving — the wide, watchful eyes, the parted lips, the bold simplification of drapery and limb — qualities prized today precisely for their honesty and immediacy. The reverse is flattened, indicating the figure was conceived for placement against a wall, niche or retable. 

A compelling survival from the age of plague saints, and a natural companion to early oak and ecclesiastical works of art.

Provenance: Private Collection, Buckinghamshire

Material: Carved oak with polychromed surface.

Condition: Age splits, losses and surface wear throughout, entirely commensurate with four centuries of age and devotion; the figure is stable and displays handsomely.

Dimensions: Height 49 cm (19½ in); Width 18 cm (7 in); Depth 10.5 cm (4 in)