SAINT HUBERT OR SAINT EUSTACE. GOLDEN AND POLYCHROMED WOOD. SPANISH SCHOOL, 16TH CENTURY.

Possibly Saint Hubert or Saint Eustace. Carved, polychrome and gilded wood. Spanish school, 16th century. Polychrome and gilded wooden carving, simply polished on the back, showing a richly dressed young rider, wearing a flat hat, and with a falcon on his right arm, his hand covered with a glove. Iconographically, it could be a civil sculpture of a nobleman on a hunt, given that he does not wear a halo and there are no other elements that identify him. However, it could also be a saint. In this case, it could be Saint Eustace of Rome, a Roman general martyred in the Italian capital during the persecutions of Emperor Hadrian in 118 AD and who was converted when, out hunting, he saw a deer with a crucifix between its antlers, illuminated by a strong light and heard a voice warning him. This vision also appears in the lives of St. Felix of Valois (saintified in 1666), who had it while he was walking, and St. Hubert of Liège (a Merovingian nobleman who took up hunting after his wife died, and had the aforementioned vision while hunting on Good Friday, with a voice that told him "Hubert, if you do not return to the Lord and lead a holy life, you will go to hell" and sent him to find the bishop of Maastricht, Lambert, where he converted, renouncing his position and giving his wealth to the poor). St. Hubert died in Tervuren, Brabant, and his remains ended up in the Abbey of Andain, in the current town of St. Hubert, his remains being lost in the 16th century (until then the abbey was a very important pilgrimage centre). The importance of this saint was increased thanks to some Military Orders that took his name in the 15th century; in addition, Philip IV of Spain had him as a protector. Normally, these saints (Saint Eustace and Saint Hubert) are shown accompanied by a deer with a cross or a crucified Christ between its antlers, as this was the most important moment of their lives. However, when there was more space or development at various times in history, it was not unusual to see them with a horse: the portal of the chapel of Saint Hubert in Amboise (chapel built between 1491 and 1496), with the saint next to a horse and kneeling before the deer; two works preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of New York: a French relief from the beginning of the 16th century with the saint mounted on horseback (inventory 25.120.284) and a half prayer bead from the beginning of the 16th century, from the Netherlands, with the saint also mounted. Representations of Saint Eustace are less numerous, in principle. Stylistically, the work does not show much Hispano-Flemish influence (although the saint was very popular in northern Europe). Also, compare the attire: the hat is similar to the one worn by the portrait of John Calvin in the engraving attributed to Hans Holbein the Younger (ca. 1497-1543).

· Size: 64x20x77 cms