I am amused when I am described as an "expert" because I know I am a perpetual student. And so it was with this figure, which is pictured in my last book.
In 2006, I described this figure as The Return of the Prodigal Son. It had traditionally been called that by others. No excuse for me to jump off the cliff behind the other sheep, but I did. In my defense, does the title not fit the figure?....the slaughter of the fatted calf as the prodigal son returns.
Fast forward to 2012, and I know better. The figure instead portrays the Sacrifice at Lystra. The New Testament (Acts 14:8–18) tells that when Paul and Barnabas visit Lystra, Paul heals a crippled man. The Lystrans believe the two apostles are Greek gods, and, to their horror, bring out bulls to sacrifice to them. Rafael’s sixteenth-century cartoon portraying the scene (commissioned for a tapestry for the Sistine Chapel) is the design source for the figure group. A similar Roman relief panel (now in the Louvre) showing preparation for the sacrifice at Lystra may have inspired Rafael’s work. Below is a 19th century bible engraving, and I suspect our potter used a similar one as a design source.
Fast forward to 2012, and I know better. The figure instead portrays the Sacrifice at Lystra. The New Testament (Acts 14:8–18) tells that when Paul and Barnabas visit Lystra, Paul heals a crippled man. The Lystrans believe the two apostles are Greek gods, and, to their horror, bring out bulls to sacrifice to them. Rafael’s sixteenth-century cartoon portraying the scene (commissioned for a tapestry for the Sistine Chapel) is the design source for the figure group. A similar Roman relief panel (now in the Louvre) showing preparation for the sacrifice at Lystra may have inspired Rafael’s work. Below is a 19th century bible engraving, and I suspect our potter used a similar one as a design source.
This rare group is known from three very similar examples. In all cases, the bocage was made separately to fit into a socket, in the manner in which a candle fits into a candlestick. In the example above, the bocage is lost. Here is another from a Christies 1992 catalogue, with the bocage in place.
I am confident that John Dale made Sacrifice at Lystra groups. Dale liked socket bocages, and they occur on other figures that link to him. This base with these flowers is found on other Dale examples, as are bocage leaves of this form. Notice the figures' very square faces. Dale faces look like this. And lastly, that very bright apple green on the base is another indication of a Dale origin. Together these features establish the attribution.
My thanks to Stephen Duckworth, whose specialty is Victorian religious figures, for correctly identifying this figure group.
My thanks to Stephen Duckworth, whose specialty is Victorian religious figures, for correctly identifying this figure group.
