Reliquary Bust of a Crowned Saint
Unknown Tyrolean or Swabian Sculptor, German, 1480 - 1520
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
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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