Flying buttress figurine: A Wise Maiden

After the 26 flying buttress scupltures from the north side of St. Eusebius's Church I (along with team member Jelle) started carving the 27 sculptures from the South Side. The themes of these four flying buttresses are the Trumpeting angels (that I carved in September 2016 already), the Wise Maidens, the Foolish Maidens and the represent the Beatitudes.

So the trumpet angels have already been completed, as are two of the Wise Maidens, the Beatitudes are almost done, apart from the top block on which the Supreme Commander In Chief is depicted, so we only have a few of these girls to go. This sculpture was a Wise Maiden, who in Jesus’ s parabola is waiting for the groom, and because she is smart she's not only carrying an oil lamp with her, but also some spare oil.

A proven ritual

So I once again raised a new stone block on the sawing machine, then I exactly copy-sawed the original and from there I could carve a copy without too much measuring. Read in previous articles how it is done, and here is a comprehensive film about the sawing machine as well.

John Grosman

This lady also was carved by John Grosman, just like the aforementioned trumpet angels and the winged beasts on the corbels of the tower. The Wise Maiden is holding a cross with rosary in her hand and is sitting side-saddle on the flying buttress. She leans a little to the left because the flying buttress slopes upwards. This way, she sits almost upright. Grosman plays cleverly with the postures of the girls and of the angels on his two flying buttresses. It has become a very varied rhythm within his very recognizable design. Remarkably, the figurines by Grosman have no oil lamp nor a jug, whereas the Foolish Maidens by George van der Wagt do; they're holding an empty container upside down.

Her face was not much more than a plane with a nose and two eyebrows. I have given her a subtle mouth and eyelids this time. She has her eyes closed, because when they were all asleep, the bridegroom came.

This Muschelkalk limestone block was rather coarse at the bottom. All the brown will wash out over time, making the porous structure of the stone clearly visible. This stone is otherwise well resistant to weathering and retains the coarse nature of the Ettringer tufa in which the original was carved.

To the next flying buttress statue.