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ID number: BIRBI-44.5 Institution: The Barber Institute of Fine Arts Artist / Maker: German Title / Object name: St Catherine of Alexandria (?) Object type: Sculpture Place made: Probably Swabia Culture: German Date made: about 1520 Materials: Wood, polychromed and gilded Measurements: 71.1 cm high Provenance: Eugen von Miller zu Aichholz, Vienna, sold in Paris 1900 at Geroges petit's, lot 91; purchased from F.A. Drey, London, August 1944, for £500 |
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This crowned figure with a book most likely represents the legendary Christian virgin-martyr St Catherine of Alexandria, patron saint of teachers and librarians. She was said to be a beautiful learned woman of royal birth, who lived under the Roman Emperor Maxentius (r.306-12). However her most famous emblem, the spiked wheel, on which she was to be tortured, is missing. This graceful sculpture is by a German sculptor probably working in the southern region of Swabia in about 1520. It was almost certainly once part of a much larger altarpiece. |
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