Flemish family of artists. The most extensively documented member is the sculptor Jean [Giovanni] de Wespin (b Dinant, c. 1569; d ?Varallo, Valsesia, 1615), whose father was a marble merchant. Having received some training at either Namur or Dinant, Jean travelled in 1587 to Italy to work at the court of Vincenzo I Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua. Except for a visit to Dinant in 1588, he remained in Italy for the rest of his life. He is principally remembered for his statues at the SACROMONTE at Varallo in the Valsesia. These life-size terracotta figures are grouped together within chapels in tableaux representing scenes from sacred history. He probably became associated with the Varallo sacromonte in 1587, at the beginning of the second phase of works at this sanctuary. A contract of 1590 states that he was to be responsible for the chapel of St Orso (destr.), the Paradise Chapel and the Calvary Chapel; of Jean de Wespin’s work there, some forty human figures and nine horses now remain. The Calvary, on which he worked from 1599 to 1602, represents the summit of his achievement. Each statue is unsentimentally conceived as a highly realistic individual rather than as a character type. There is a slightly harsh emphasis on anatomical structure: skinny legs and arms, chests that show the bones under the skin, high-cheekboned faces, hard mouths and staring eyes. The style is simple, and religious feeling is expressed with restraint. Jean de Wespin also worked on the sacromonte at Crea in Piedmont between 1590 and 1616.