Circa 1890, George Minne (1866-1941), Bronze Bust of Jesus Christ on Marble Base (Belgian).
 
Dark patinated bronze sculpture bust of Jesus Christ, mounted on a marble stone base.
 
Initialled and Numbered '3'
 
CONDITION:
 
Wear commensurate with age. Stunning patina all over.
 
PROVENANCE:
 
From the collection of Lt. Colonel, Léo van Puyvelde (1882-1965), thence by decent.
Lt. Colonel, Léo van Puyvelde was a Belgian Art Historian, Professor, Art and Antiques Collector, and Chief Curator of The Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium. Of note, van Puyvelde liaised with Maj. Ronald E. Balfour and Maj. Paul Baillie-Reynolds of the 'Monuments Men' working in Belgium. After the dramatic discovery by Monuments Men Capt. Robert Posey and Pfc. Lincoln Kirstein of Jan van Eyck’s Ghent Altarpiece, Belgium’s greatest artistic treasure, deep inside a salt mine in Altausee; in 1945 van Puyvelde was proudly on hand to welcome the Ghent Altarpiece to the Museum, where it was placed on temporary display before its return to Saint Bavo Cathedral in Ghent. Lt. Colonel, Léo Van Puyvelde was a deeply religious man, with a significant personal collection of noteable religious relics. His collection
 
ABOUT GEORGE MINNE:
 
Towards the end of the 19th century, the Belgian sculptor and draughtsman George Minne (1866-1941) was – alongside Auguste Rodin and Aristide Maillol – the most important representative of staunchly modern sculpture. He achieved international fame with his portrait busts of members of the Belgian royal house and, particularly, with his “Jünglingsbrunnen” completed in 1906 for Karl Ernst Osthaus’s Folkwang Museum in Hagen.