''Saint Barbara'' is a sculpture statuette in limewood with paint, completed by an unknown, probably German, artist in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

, in present-day France, around 1490. This representation of the early Christian martyr

Saint Barbara Saint Barbara ( grc, Ἁγία Βαρβάρα; cop, Ϯⲁⲅⲓⲁ Ⲃⲁⲣⲃⲁⲣⲁ; ; ), known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an Early Christianity, early Christian Lebanese and Greek saint and martyr. Acc ...

is today in the collection of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, New York. It was commissioned as a fitting as part of for the high altarpiece of the Saint Mauritius church, near Strasbourg.Saint Barbara
Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 28 March 2016 Some of the painted wings and figures of this central shrine have survived, allowing art historians to propose a possible reconstruction, usually with this work as one of the two outermost figures. Lost sculptures, but known from record include those of

Saint Maurice Saint Maurice (also Moritz, Morris, or Mauritius; ) was an Egyptians, Egyptian military leader who headed the legendary Theban Legion of Roman Empire, Rome in the 3rd century, and is one of the favorite and most widely venerated saints of that Ma ...

Pope Gregory the Great Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregoria ...

, while the central figure was a standing Virgin and Child.Wixom, 27 The modeling and colourisation is of the first quality, completed in the then popular monumental style. The model seems refined and aristocratic, and is dressed in high fashion. Her red dress, which is highly detailed, but very large drapery fold, is

molded Molding (American English) or moulding (British and Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is the process of manufacturing by shaping liquid or pliable raw material using a rigid frame called a mold or matrix. This itself may have ...

and contains gilt wax

brocade Brocade is a class of richly decorative shuttle-woven fabrics, often made in colored silks and sometimes with gold and silver threads. The name, related to the same root as the word "broccoli", comes from Italian ''broccato'' meaning "embos ...

patterns. She is intelligent looking and obviously educated, she hold a book outstretched before her. In style, the work seems influenced by the late Gothic work of

Nikolaus Gerhaert Nikolaus Gerhaert (c.1420 – 28 June 1473), also known as Nikolaus Gerhaert van Leyden, was a Dutch sculptor, although aside from his sculptures, few details are known of his life. He worked in both stone and wood. Biography Gerhaert is consi ...

Notes

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Sources

* Barnet, Peter; Nancy Wu. "The Cloisters: Medieval Art and Architecture". New York and New Haven: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005 * Wixom, William. "Medieval Sculpture at The Cloisters". The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, volume 46, no. 3, Winter, 1988–1989 Medieval European sculptures Sculptures in the Metropolitan Museum of Art