Date : approx. between 1465 and 1470
Material : Walnut wood, Marks of polychromy
Acquisition : Endowment (1943)
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European Painting
Sculpture (Buste)
Area related
Alsace (France)
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| Description |  |
This bust of Saint Margaret of Antioch was made for the high altar of the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Wissembourg. According to legend, Margaret spurned the affections of the pagan prefect of Antioch and was tortured and imprisoned. She valiantly prayed for evil to be revealed to her, and, when it appeared in the form of a dragon, she was able to suppress it by making the sign of the cross. This well-known aspect of her story was indicated by the cross that this sculpted figure once held in her right hand. A relic (body fragment) of the saint, now lost, was held in a cavity at her chest.
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