HOYAU, Charles

(b. 0 ?, d. ~1644 ?)

French sculptor. Information about his life is scarce. The date and place of his birth is not known. He died probably in 1644, the year when his wife Isabelle Préhoust was declared as widow.

The rare mentions of his artistic activity relate to only one short interval between 1630, when he carried out a series of sculptures for the convent Minimes du Plessis-lès-Tours (of which two Evangelists are preserved), and 1635 when the Sepulchre in the church of Marolles-les-Braults was commissioned from him.

In the cathedral of Le Mans he succeeded Gervais I Delabarre in the decoration of the jube. Two sculptures here, the sitting Virgin (Mater Dolorosa) and St Cecilia bear his signature. He is also credited with a tomb of seven highly studied scenic figures, originally in the Franciscan monastery, now in the cathedral of Le Mans.

St Cecilia

The statue of St Cecilia playing a portable organ was commissioned from Charles Hoyau in 1633 by canon Bernardin Le Rouge for an altar to be placed under the grand organ in honour of a musical competition, and moved to the Chapelle Saint-Pierre (St Peter’s Chapel) in the Cathedrale Saint-Julien du Mans (Cathedral of St Julian of Le Mans). The statue was repainted in the 19th century and restored 1997-2002. The saint’s earlobes are pierced, and would originally have had earrings.

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St Cecilia

This terracotta sculpture in a chapel in the cathedral of Le Mans features magnificent hair and a headdress that reveal a sculptor full of verve.

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