In the 17th and 18th centuries, some artisans from the Duchy of Lorraine made their art known in France and were also exporting all over Europe. They were sculptors who carved remarkable objects and artworks in a special wood with red tones, the St. Lucie wood (bois de Sainte Lucie in French). Or you may have heard of their production under a different name, Bagard wood. It comes from the artist’s name César Bagard (1620-1707), indeed an outstanding sculptor of large statues.
With this article, we aim to help you discover the items crafted from Saint-Lucie wood by providing context about Lorraine and their creation dates. As well as give to César the things that are César’s… and to the other artists what is theirs. You will understand why sticking to the term “Saint-Lucie wood” makes much more sense than “Bagard wood”.
17th-century heraldic putto in Saint-Lucie wood. © Spinario
Saint-Lucie Wood: How the Saint Gave Her Name to Prunus Mahaleb
Saint Lucy of Syracuse is not the Lucie of our story. 16th-century French polychrome wood statue. © Autour de 1500 Antiquités
To get us started, let us try to understand what Saint Lucie has to do with this wood. This is not about the most famous Saint Lucy, Lucia of Syracuse, a 4th-century martyr typically represented with her eyes on a plate. The story goes that Lucia of Syracuse wanted to stay a virgin and devote her life to God. Her fiancé refused this idea, claiming that he loved her for her beautiful eyes. Hoping it would solve her problem, she pulled out her own eyes and brought them to him.
Our Lucie, who came to Lorraine, shared the same faith and determination, but her story is very different. She was a princess from Scotland in the 9th century—or perhaps the 8th, which shows just how little we really know about her. Apparently, she got tired of her father’s perverted court and decided to live a more saintly life. Her travels led her to the small village of Sampigny, where she worked as a shepherd–yes, legends and history are often difficult to set apart–and lived like a hermit. At night, she would spin wool in a cave on a hill by the light of a lamp, whose oil miraculously healed the sick. After her death, miracles continued, now attributed to the oil of the lamp at her grave. On top of this, from her distaff planted in the soil miraculously grew a new kind of cherry tree, prunus mahaleb (aka mahaleb cherry or St. Lucie cherry), and then a whole forest filled with this wood.
A 16th-century tomb effigy of Saint Lucie of Scotland was in the church of the Sampigny Minimes convent until the French Revolution. The pilgrims of the 17th and 18th centuries engraved many dated graffiti. Now in the Musée d’Art Sacré de Saint-Mihiel © Frédéric Madiai/ France Télévisions
With all these miracles happening, you can imagine it became a pilgrimage site. A church, Sainte-Lucie-du-Mont, was built to keep her relics. Far later, in 1625, the Order of Minims funded a monastery. Somehow, sterile women would become fertile after praying to Saint Lucie there. The Queen Anne d’Autriche, wife of King Louis XIII, had suffered many miscarriages. She would have stopped there in 1632 or 1633 to ask for an heir, and tada, in 1638 Louis-Dieudonné, who would become Louis XIV, was born. This anecdote illustrates just how renowned the Saint-Lucie pilgrimage was.
Anne d’Autriche with her son Louis XIV, approximately one year old. Oil on canvas by Atelier Beaubrun, c. 1639-1650. In Château de Versailles.
Unfortunately, the mahaleb cherry trees can no longer be found today in Sampigny and Lorraine. Could it be because of its many uses in carving? We will go into these further down. The good news is that, as charming as the Saint-Lucie story is for explaining the origin of this species, in reality this wood is native to Central Asia and the Mediterranean, extending into northern Europe, and is still found in many regions today. Maybe you enjoyed mahlep in your food before? The ground seeds of mahaleb have been used in breads and pastries in Greece, Turkey, and Egypt.
Sampigny, Lorraine: Historical and Artistic Context (16th-17th Centuries)
Likely, you are not familiar with Sampigny. The Meuse River goes through this small village. It sits in the Lorraine region about 60 kilometers northwest of Nancy.
Lorraine under growing French pressure in the 17th century. We selected this map despite being in French because it illustrates very clearly how the French (in all the pink/red colors) are progressively nibbling away and surrounding the Lorraine territories. (From “(Dé)construire un Etat dans un territoire d’entre-deux. Le Piémont-Savoie et la Lorraine à l’époque moderne”, paper by Alexandre Ruelle)
Lorraine was a complex and fragmented territory, politically and culturally, a land on the border of two strong nations. Because it emerged from medieval Lotharingia, the Duke of Lorraine was historically connected to the Holy Roman Empire. While being officially freed from the Empire since the Treaty of Nuremberg of 1542, the Duke of Lorraine still had a voice at the Imperial Diet thanks to his Nomeny lands. France, on its western flank, was an ambitious neighbor, and staying independent was an arduous job. The Thirty Years’ War from 1618 to 1648 was a terrible demographic and economic blow to Lorraine. Under Louis XIII and Louis XIV, France repeatedly occupied parts of Lorraine. From 1633 to 1697, Nancy was mostly in the hands of the French. After the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697, the Duke of Lorraine was back, opening a new era of prosperity that continued after 1737 when the duchy became officially French.
Being at the crossroads of these different cultural zones enabled Lorraine to have artistic stimulation from the Flanders, Burgundy, German lands, France, and Italy. In the 16th century, before St. Lucie wood acquired its popularity, Lorraine birthed three important sculptors. The biggest of them, Ligier Richier (c. 1500-1567), lived in Saint-Mihiel, only 10 kilometers away from Sampigny. He mastered stone and wood. The second one, Mansuy Gauvain (fl. 1505-1542), worked mostly in Nancy. Jean Crocq (fl. 1480-1510) was originally from Bar-le-Duc (30 kilometers West of Sampigny) and had a workshop there. These three sculptors had talents for complex and expressive compositions, bringing life to clothing thanks to voluminous drapery and lavish ornamental details.
Swoon of the Virgin in Saint-John’s arms by Ligier Richier. Made in polychrome walnut before 1532. © Saint-Michel abbey church in Saint-Mihiel
Religious Artifacts and Carvings in St. Lucie Cherry Wood
Getting back to Sainte-Lucie wood, with the pilgrimage attracting many people in Sampigny, the miraculous wood was put to use. Over the 17th century, the creation of devotional objects or sacred art carved in this wood grew. It would include rosaries, crucifixes, low reliefs, statues of the Virgin Mary, Saints, or Christ.
Low reliefs of Christ and the Virgin Mary, Louis-XIV period. © Antiquités Expertise Guillaume Rullier
A crucifix is a classic item in Saint-Lucie wood. A common version is fairly large with a Christ approximately 40 cm high and 30 cm wide. There is a subtle contrast between the red warm highlights of Prunus mahaleb against an overall dark chocolate tonality.
Framed crucifix in Saint-Lucie wood. © Pierre Brost
There appears to be a conventional representation of Christ as a Christus patiens, a suffering Christ gazing towards the heavens, with eyes and mouth open in the perfect posture to utter, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” before he expires. The two feet rest on the supedaneum, and each foot is nailed. A total of four nails was rather uncommon for a crucifixion after the Renaissance.
These crucifixes recall the Christ on the Cross by Francisco de Zurbarán (1598-1664), made around 1635. This artwork follows the aesthetic canon established after the Council of Trent to reinforce the Catholic response to Protestantism. The Counter-Reformation also spurred the foundation of numerous monasteries in Lorraine during the 17th century. Images need to emulate spirituality. On a dark background, Christ gets all our attention and compassion.
Christ on the Cross by Francisco de Zurbarán. Oil on canvas, c. 1635-40. © Sotheby’s
Even more pathos can be found in the carved crucifixes, where the traditional contrapposto—the twisting of the body—intensifies the suffering of Christ. With a typical baroque maestria, a sophisticatedly draped perizonium adds movement to the scene.
Crucifix in St. Lucie wood around 1700. © La Sculpture Francoise
Beautiful Treens, Ornamented in the Manner of Silver
These are objects with practical purposes that gave this wood international fame. The first writing mentioning objects in Saint-Lucie wood was published in 1751 in the “Bibliothèque Lorraine” (meaning Lorraine Library), written by a Benedictine monk Dom Augustin Calmet (1672-1757): “Many small works in Saint-Lucie wood are made in Lorraine, which we send to foreign countries. And that keeps several workers busy.”
Candlestick in St. Lucie wood. © Galerie Pellat de Villedon
Ironically, it was the wars between France and the Holy Roman Empire—placing Lorraine right at the center—that gave Sainte-Lucie wood its unique trajectory. To support endless onerous military campaigns, Louis XIV introduced sumptuary laws in 1689 and 1709. His subjects had to dispose of objects made of precious metals so that they could be melted down to finance the wars. And consequently, these objects had to be replaced. The trade for these items was active until the late 18th century.
Small mirror in Saint-Lucie wood. © Arnaud de Spa
Because Saint-Lucie wood is so dense and fine-grained, carvings can be very precise. Such treens adorned with foliage, flowers, fruit baskets, and grotesques are clearly reminiscent of silverware. It was also less expensive than ivory. One particular area of specialty was beauty accessories such as brushes, mirror frames, boxes of various shapes (for needles, ribbons, or cosmetics, wigs, etc.).
Boxes in Saint-Lucie wood. On the left, a small cosmetic box decorated with a flower basket © Antiquaires David Balzeau & Pascale Brion. On the right, a large box with an escutcheon displaying MRA initials, acanthus leaves, and shells © Antiquités Expertise Guillaume Rullier.
César Bagard (1620-1707): Why Bagard Wood?
As mentioned earlier, many items made in St. Lucie cherry wood have been attributed to César Bagard. Bagard, born and deceased in Nancy, is a major sculptor from Lorraine in the 17th century. Despite the political complexities of his time in Lorraine, he was able to work on major projects for both France and Duke Charles IV. In 1669, he was officially recognized and licensed by the duke as a sculptor appreciated for his talent and his training “in foreign provinces to see the most excellent craftsmen”.
Of his documented corpus, only twelve artworks are preserved today. His output consisted primarily of religious sculptures and funerary monuments, mostly in stone and occasionally in wood. We know for certain that he carved a wooden Saint Honoré for a Dominican church and a Nativity for a Carmelite church.
Funerary monument of Jean des Porcelets de Maillane made by César Bagard in 1679-1680. In the Musée Lorrain, Palais des Ducs de Lorraine. © Francois Munier
César had a son born in 1651, Toussaint, who became a sculptor as well. Toussaint Bagard (1651-1712) worked, for instance, with his father on the façade sculptures for the Chartreuse of Bosserville. We know for certain that he executed two crucifixes, possibly in wood, commissioned by Nancy and offered to the Maréchale de Lorges in 1695 and the duchesse Élisabeth Charlotte d’Orléans in 1698.
Five statues carved by César Bagard and his son Toussaint in 1692 for the façade of the Chartreuse de Bosserville. © Destination Nancy
Bagard’s talents also left an indirect mark on the European courts as he was a master to Jacob Sigisbert Adam (1670-1747), the first generation in a dynasty of illustrious sculptors.
It is clear that César Bagard was a specialist in large statues, “sculptor of large figures”. Somehow, early in the 19th century, many of the Saint-Lucie wood artworks got erroneously attributed to him, which led to the so-called “Bagard wood” name. Although corrected by specialists as early as 1853, the wrong attribution was out of the bag, living its own life…
And Many Other Sculptors in St. Lucie Wood: Foulon, Lupot, Chassel…
There were many other skilled sculptors in Nancy and Lorraine who were working on St. Lucie wood. At the time, they would have been registered or recognized as “sculptors in small” or “sculptors in wood of Saint-Lucie”. Among them was the Foulon family. As Dom Calmet wrote: “The Foulons were once quite known and did many works for the Dauphin, son of Louis XIV.” Lorraine is a small sculpting world, and César Bagard was the godson of César Foulon (hence the same first name).
We need much caution with attributions as the works are rarely signed and proper evidence is scarce. Some artist names stand out. For instance, two of them have been associated with crucifixes more than others: Jean-François Lupot (1684-1749) and Charles Chassel (fl. 1655-1680). Hailing from Mirecourt, Lupot had the distinctive skill of carving grotesque heads, which luthiers used to adorn violins. In other words, he mastered the art of giving life and expression to carved faces. According to Dom Calmet again, Charles Chassel was a “very skilled sculptor for small figures, his crucifixes being highly valued.”
Cane pommel carved in the round. © Farella Frank
Quite often, a name is associated with a workshop, involving other craftsmen or family members. Above, we talked about the Foulon dynasty. The same would apply to the Chassel, Manvuisse, Vallier, Mesny, or Hardy families, with usually one member with a stronger reputation (Nicolas Foulon or Regnault Mesny, for instance). Attesting to the success of the Saint-Lucie wood artifacts, Nicolas Foulon (1628-1698) even partnered with Alexandre Mestrejean of the faubourg Saint-Antoine in Paris to set up a workshop in the French capital.
Louis XIV Crushing Heresy by Regnault Mesny (1662-1712). Saint-Lucie wood figure made in 1687. © Sotheby’s
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Bois de Sainte-Lucie | Crucifixes | Wood Sculptures | Religious Art & Rituals | 17th-18th-Centuries Boxes & Cases | Louis XIII Period Antiques | Louis XIV, Régence Period Antiques
