| The bronze shows the saint as a penitent in the wilderness, with a shaggy fleece hanging from his half-naked body. The lowered head with furrowed, careworn brow and open mouth, combined with the hand-on-heart gesture, eloquently express his acknowledgement of his own sinfulness and his regret at it. The message of this bronze is thus conveyed not only through the facial features, but also through the convincing, slightly slumped pose adopted by the torso and extending into the figure’s left hip. The figure would not, in fact, require the support of the tree-trunk. Perhaps the design, first executed in wax, was intended for a marble sculpture that, for whatever reason, was rejected by the client and was then cast in bronze instead. |
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