Saint Livinus

Laurent Delvaux is one of our greatest sculptors of the 18th century. The way in which he approached the pulpit for the Jesuits' church, from which this marble comes, differs from the one he made for the Saint Bavo’s Cathedral. Here the sculptor only made the statue of Saint Lieven, without the rest of the pulpit which was made of…

Laurent Delvaux is one of our greatest sculptors of the 18th century. The way in which he approached the pulpit for the Jesuits' church, from which this marble comes, differs from the one he made for the Saint Bavo’s Cathedral. Here the sculptor only made the statue of Saint Lieven, without the rest of the pulpit which was made of mahogany. That work was entrusted to a specialist. The pose of the saint refers to the canvas by Rubens that adorned the main altar of the church. The play of draperies and the torsion of the saint's body show Baroque characteristics at a time when this style was being superseded by a new classicism that is also to be found in the artist's later work.