St James the Greater

Delcour’s closest approach to the particular quality of Bernini’s sculpture is found in his larger than life-size figures of saints for the piers of the Church of St Jacques in Liege, which he made between 1682 and 1696. Particularly his St James the Greater stands out for the open nature of its sculpture, the emotionality of its facial expression and gestures, the loose, pictorial fall of its folds and the flickering play of shadows as the light falls on. With his grand gesture of submission the apostle is clearly a reminder of Bernini’s Longinus.