St. Mark

The workshop of Christian Jorhan the Elder produced numerous busts of saints on rocaille pedestals, among them several sets of the Four Evangelists. The St. Mark in the Berlin Sculpture Collection, identified by the lion on the volute to the fore, is part of a matching group with the Evangelists Matthew and John in the Liebieghaus, Frankfurt, and a St. Luke in Oxford (collection of A. E. Alport). They all have the distinctive tripod socles bearing the emblems of the Evangelists as well as gilded robes embossed in imitation of brocade, offering an appealing contrast to the pallor of the figures’ faces. The four busts were intended to be displayed on an altar.