Spanish school, 13th century

Spanish school of the 13th century.
"Saint Roque".
Wood carving.
Measurements: 68 cm (+4 cm base).

Spanish devotional image carved in wood representing San Roque, although the lower part of it is not preserved, in which the dog and the legs of the Saint would appear. The saint appears as he is usually represented in art, with pilgrim's attire and staff. The lower part of the habit would be raised to show the marks of the plague on his thigh.
Saint Roch is a 14th century saint whose French or Italian legendary biographies date back to the end of the 15th century. In fact, it can be said that he is better known by popular devotion than by his life story. He was born in Montpellier around 1350, being orphaned at a very early age. When his parents died, he distributed the family fortune among the poor and hospitals, wore the habit of a pilgrim and in 1367 went to Rome, where he stayed for three years, until 1371. Arriving in Acquapendente, in the Apennines, he found a city devastated by the plague; he stayed, and devoted himself to assisting and encouraging the sick, healing them. On returning from his pilgrimage, in Plasencia he felt the first symptoms of the disease, so he withdrew to a forest to die in solitude and not infect anyone. According to legend, a dog fed him by bringing him bread every day, and an angel cured him. When he recovered, he left for Montpellier where no one could recognize him, not even his uncle. He was denounced as a spy and imprisoned, and one day his jailer found him dead. In reality he would have died in Lombardy, around 1379. This legend is copied in part from that of St. Alexius, who returned from the Holy Places to die in Rome as an anonymous beggar, under the staircase of his father's house.