Jacques de Baerze

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Jacques de Baerze
(active in Burgundy towards the end 14th c) St George

This smallish wooden statue of St George is similar to the statue from the left wing of the Altar of Crucifixion in Dijon (Musée des Beaux-Arts) which Philip II the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy, commissioned from master Jacques de Baerze in 1390 for the Chartreuse de Champmol. The altar could not be installed in the Carthusian church until 1399.

Although the two statues differ in details and size, the author is undoubtedly the same. The statue of St George in Zagreb is more complete and meaningful: its plastic movement in space and the plainly outlined back suggest that it was meant to be positioned in front of a wall. Its importance is even greater because it was probably made after a destroyed stone model by Claus Sluter.