A large alabaster relief of a crowned female saint

Saints are the heroes and heroines of Christian faith. For many centuries they have been invoked by the faithful against death and disease, adopted as name saints to millions of devotees, venerated in place names and pilgrimage sites, and celebrated through the special dedication of chapels, churches and cathedrals throughout the Christian world. In the Middle Ages, if an individual sought the ear of God, the intercession of a saint was believed to increase the efficacy of their prayers.

 At over 56 cm in height, this early fifteenth-century relief of a crowned female saint is an extremely important survival, far larger than the majority of such figures. Though she can no longer be identified she probably represents one of Catholicism’s more popular Queen Saints, such as Barbara, Catherine, or Elizabeth. She stands with her head and gaze turned subtly to our left, her gilded hair pinned by a cusped crown but flowing unbound over her shoulders. Two drilled holes let into the back of the panel evidence the manner with which she was originally secured to a larger structure, presumably an altarpiece (though evidently one which would have been of considerable scale and grandeur).