Flemish school of the XVI-XVII century

Flemish school of the XVI-XVII century.
"Saint Roque".
Carved wood.
Provenance: Belgian private collection, 2023.
It does not preserve a hand.
Measurements: 56 x 21 x 12 cm.

Devotional image belonging to the Flemish Renaissance, carved in wood, representing Saint Roque. The saint appears as it is common to find him in the iconography, with attire, headdress and rod of pilgrim, raising the bottom of the tunic to show the marks of the plague on his thigh. He is accompanied by his dog (a faithful animal that was also sanctified) and a protective archangel. The plasticity of the finishes is outstanding, which is typical of the Flemish school, capable of capturing the diversity of qualities with refined language.
Saint Roch is a 14th century saint whose biographies, French or Italian, of legendary character, date back to the end of the 15th century. In fact, it can be said that he is better known by popular devotion than by his life story. He was born in Montpellier around 1350, being orphaned at a very early age. When his parents died, he distributed the family fortune among the poor and hospitals, wore the habit of a pilgrim and in 1367 went to Rome, where he stayed for three years, until 1371. Arriving in Acquapendente, in the Apennines, he found a city devastated by the plague; he stayed, and devoted himself to assisting and encouraging the sick, healing them. Upon returning from his pilgrimage, in Plasencia he felt the first symptoms of the disease, so he retired to a forest to die in solitude and not infect anyone. According to legend, a dog fed him by bringing him bread every day, and an angel cured him. When he recovered, he left for Montpellier where no one could recognize him, not even his uncle. He was denounced as a spy and imprisoned, and one day his jailer found him dead. In reality he would have died in Lombardy, around 1379. This legend is copied in part from that of St. Alexius, who returned from the Holy Places to die in Rome as an anonymous beggar, under the staircase of his father's house.