A Polychrome Sculpture of a Female Saint

Limewood with original gesso, gilding and polychromy. Carved in the round but with a more summarily finished reverse, this refined figure represents a youthful female saint, most likely one of the early Christian virgin martyrs. She stands in quiet contrapposto, the weight placed upon her left leg, holding a closed book against her hip while raising her right hand in a gesture of address. The remaining stumps of two fingers reveal that she once held a slender palm branch – the traditional attribute of martyrs in late medieval and Renaissance imagery.
The saint is richly clothed in a gilded gown over which falls a mantle painted in vermilion red with traces of green lining. Much of the original polychromy survives, retaining both the burnished gold highlights and the stippled punchwork characteristic of southern German and Tyrolean workshops. Her long hair is rendered in carefully tiered curls, framing a youthful face with almond-shaped eyes, a small pointed chin, and the faintest of smiles.