The Sculptor of Sorrow and Stone Ligier Richier stands as a singular, haunting figure in the artistic landscape of sixteenth-century France, a master whose hands breathed life into the cold, pale limestone of Lorraine. Born around 1500 in Saint-Mihiel, an artist emerging from a family steeped in sculptural tradition, Richier did not merely carve stone; he sculpted the very essence of human suffering and spiritual transcendence. His wo…