Reliquary bust of a female saint, probably a companion of Sa - Lot 53

Lot n° 53
Go to lot
Estimation :
1500 - 2000 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 5 460EUR
Reliquary bust of a female saint, probably a companion of Sa - Lot 53
Reliquary bust of a female saint, probably a companion of Saint Ursula, in polychromed oak with traces of gilding, partially flat back. Head with sharp chin framed by abundant hair falling in long wavy locks to the shoulders, held in place by a gold-plated diadem, placed above the rounded forehead and centered with a double-petal rosette; she is clothed in a simple robe with flaps crossing over the chest. The top of the head is uncluttered, revealing the skull cap; a cavity appears to have been made in the front. Picardy, Abbeville ?, circa 1500/1510 H. 28 cm Old label (old but later polychromy showing gilding in some places, slight accidents). Works consulted : - P. Béguerie-De Paepe, La Sculpture picarde à Abbeville vers 1500, Tournai, 2001, cat.11 à 15. - Exhibitions Cleveland - Baltimore - London 2011, Treasures of Heaven, Cleveland Museum of Art - The Walters Art Museum - The British Museum, cat.107 and 108. - Leuven 2020 exhibition, Borman and Sons. The Best Sculptors', M - Museum Leuven, cat.171 to 186. This bust is reminiscent of several reliquary busts depicting Saint Ursula and other saints, generally considered to be part of the Eleven Thousand Virgins, fellow martyrs of the famous saint from Colonia. In particular, four beautiful busts, between 40 and 45 cm high, with common features, are preserved at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv.59.70, 1976.89, 61.155.23 and 17.190.728, fig.a). These young women all have kind faces, luxurious clothes and golden hair, sporting complex hairstyles with braids and tiaras. Produced in the first decades of the 16th century, these busts are attributed to the Brussels workshop of the Borman family of sculptors. They are thought to have originated during a trip made by Charles V to Cologne in 1520, when Ursuline relics from the German city's Franciscan monastery were returned to Spain. A document from 1522 relates that reliquaries were made in Brussels and then brought back to the Iberian Peninsula. This bust of a young saint does not belong to the production of the Southern Netherlands. Although the original gilding can be seen in several places beneath the later polychromy, it does not bear witness to the sophisticated craftsmanship of Brussels busts. Her hairstyle, though elaborate, lacks braids and intricate scrolls, as does her gown of cabochon-laden braids and clever pleating. It's more in keeping with the style of Picardy sculpture of the early 16th century. The Musée Boucher de Perthes holds reliquary busts of saints with similar hieratic features and expressions (fig.b). Like the reliquary bust from the church of Sainte-Catherine d'Abbeville, its uncarved reverse would indicate its place in a niche or high altar. However, this bust is remarkable for the originality of the arrangement of the hair strands passing over the diadem and away from the cheeks, as well as for the absence of a niche for the relic, replaced by the vision of the skull cap.
My orders
Sale information
Sales conditions
Return to catalogue