Reliquary Bust of a Crowned Saint

Unknown Tyrolean or Swabian Sculptor, German, 1480 - 1520

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about 1500

Polychromed and gilded wood

Overall: 20 3/4 × 16 7/8 × 10 5/8 in. (52.7 × 42.9 × 27 cm)

Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Purchased through a grant from the Henry Moore Foundation and funds from the deaccessioning of an anonymous gift, by exchange

2022.14

Geography

Place Made: Austria, Europe

Period

1400-1600

Object Name

Reliquary

Research Area

Sculpture

On view

Label

This sculpture of a young woman dressed in rich garments and a crown once held the relic of a saint. The relic—something that holds the essence and power of a holy figure—would be safely housed in the reliquary and provide a focus for prayers to that figure. Reliquaries could be placed on altars or carried in religious processions, and they could prompt devotional pilgrimages. While the identity of this saint is now unknown, she likely represents one of the popular queen saints who served as models for women’s virtue. The realistic quality of the carving and painting, much of it original, would have given her a dramatic presence in the church where the sculpture once stood, augmented by the flicker of candles on golden surfaces and the smell of incense.

From the 2024 exhibition Living with Sculpture: Presence and Power in Europe, 1400–1750, curated by Elizabeth Rice Mattison, Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Academic Programming and Curator of European Art, and Ashley Offill, Curator of Collections

Course History

ARTH 27.02, Living Stone: Sculpture in Early Modern Italy, Elizabeth Kassler-Taub, Winter 2022

ARTH 27.02, Living Stone: Sculpture in Early Modern Italy, Elizabeth Kassler-Taub, Winter 2022

HIST 43.02, European Intellectual History 1400-1800, Darrin McMahon, Fall 2022

History 3.01, Europe in the Age of Wonder, M. Cecilia Gaposchkin and Walter Simons, Winter 2023

Art History 20.04, Faith and Empire, Beth Mattison, Spring 2023

History 42.01, Women's Gender, and Sexuality Studies 22.01, Gender & European Society, Patrick Meehan, Spring 2024

History 96.39, Saints and Relics, Cecilia Gaposchkin, Spring 2024

Italian 1.01, Introductory Italian I, Noemi Perego, Spring 2024

Italian 11.01, Intensive Italian, Floriana Ciniglia, Spring 2024

Italian 2.01, Introductory Italian II, Floriana Ciniglia, Spring 2024

Italian 3.01, Introductory Italian III, Tania Convertini, Spring 2024

Italian 3.02, Introductory Italian III, Giorgio Alberti, Spring 2024

Exhibition History

Harrington Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, April 19, 2023-February 12, 2024.

Living with Sculpture: Presence and Power in Europe, 1400–1750, Citrin Family Gallery and Engles Family Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, March 23, 2024–March 22, 2025.

Provenance

Larminet-Davioud Collection, several generations, housed in their Belgian country house; Rob Michiels Auctions, Bruges, Belgium, 1 November 2020, lot 1078; Sam Fogg, Ltd., London, UK; sold to present collection 2022.

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