The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Saint James the Greater

Saint James the Greater

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 016

Description

This figure is one of many that Gil de Siloe and his assistants produced to surmount the tomb of Juan II of Castile and Isabel of Portugal. The monumentality and the quality of carving suggest that this figure was executed by the master himself. Saint James the Greater, patron saint of Spain, wears a hat with an upturned brim decorated with a scallop shell and crossed pilgrim staffs like those customarily worn by pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela.
Provenance

From the tomb of Juan II of Castile and Isabel of Portugal in the Cartuja de Miraflores, outside Burgos, Spain

Conde de las Almanas , Madrid ; his sale, American Art Association , New York (January 13, 1927, lot 361) ; Reginald de Covan , New York ; André Tressley , New York (sold 1969)
See also
Who
Gil de Siloe (4)
What
Metal (59,485)

Sculpture (24,338)

Gold (12,362)

Stone (7,956)

Statues (4,250)

Figurines (3,398)

Gypsum (1,223)

Alabaster (1,191)
Where
Europe (150,450)

Spain (3,749)

Castilla y León (35)

Burgos (12)
When
A.D. 1400-1600 (20,687)
In the Museum
The Cloisters (2,301)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Pilgrimage in Medieval Europe

Iberian Peninsula, 1400–1600 A.D.
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