Spanish school, ca. 1700

Spanish school, ca. 1700.
"Saint Roque".
Carved and polychromed wood.
It has some lack of polychromy.
Measurements: 29,5 cm. high.
Devotional sculpture representing San Roque. The saint is carved in a round figure, characterised with the attributes that traditionally identify him. He is dressed as a pilgrim and the bottom of his habit is raised to show the marks of the plague on his thigh. The saint is accompanied by his dog, who will also be sanctified. His bearded face conveys serenity. The folds of the tunic fall in naturalistic draperies. The finishing touches on the cloak simulate sumptuous brocades.
Saint Roch is a 14th century saint whose legendary French or Italian biographies date back to the end of the 15th century. In fact, he is arguably better known through popular devotion than through his life story. He was born in Montpellier around 1350 and orphaned at a very early age. When his parents died, he distributed the family fortune among the poor and hospitals, took 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, curing them. On returning from his pilgrimage, he felt the first symptoms of the disease in Plasencia, 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 recognised him, not even his uncle. He was denounced as a spy and imprisoned, and one day his jailer found him dead.