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Date : near 1330
Material : Tempera on canvas
| Item 1 on 19
European Painting
Painting
Area related
Italy
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| Description |  |
The panel shows Saint Ursula on her way back north after a pilgrimage to Rome, before she was martyred.
Three boats approach the uninhabited city of Basel, Switzerland. In the first boat Saint Ursula sits under a baldachin in the stern with her virgin companions, two of whom reach out towards the shore. The boat in the middle carries the legendary Pope Cyriacus and his bishops, and the last boat follows with more of Saint Ursula's maidens. Banners depicting the arms of Ursula and Cyriacus fly from the bow of each vessel.
Saint Ursula was honored for her devoted practice of chastity. According to legend, she and eleven thousand fellow virgins made a pilgrimage from Brittany to Rome. Here Ursula - shown with a halo and accompanied by Pope Ciriacus, bishops, and her maidens- arrives in Cologne, the site of the women's subsequent martyrdom. This panel, originally the left wing of a three-part altarpiece, was painted for the Church of Saint Ursula in Florence.
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