The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Saint Margaret

Date:: ca. 1470–80
Geography:: Made in Bruneck, South Tyrol, Austria (now Italy, Trentino-Alto Adige)
Culture:: Austrian
Medium:: Pine with metal appliqués, traces of gesso and paint
Dimensions:: 4' 2 3/4" H x 2' 7" W
Classification:: Sculpture
Credit Line:: The Cloisters Collection, 1963
Accession Number:: 63.13.2

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 010

Description

According to legend, St. Margaret was imprisoned for refusing to marry the governor of Antioch. Satan appeared to her in the form of a dragon and swallowed her as she clutched a cross in prayer; she then ripped open his belly with the cross and emerged unscathed. The statue may have held a cross in one of her now-missing hands; the vanquished dragon lies at her feet. This massive figure probably came from the central shrine of a large polychromed altarpiece.
Provenance

From the parish church of Saint Margaret im Dorf, Neustift, near Brixen

[ Laufen , Salzburg (ca. 1920–?)] ; [ Wolfgang Hofstätter , Veinna (sold 1963)]
See also
Who
Michael Pacher (2)
What
Metal (59,364)

Sculpture (24,350)

Wood (7,651)

Statues (4,078)

Softwood (1,177)

Pine (890)

Gesso (362)
Where
Europe (148,586)

Austria (2,138)

Tyrol (60)
When
A.D. 1400-1600 (20,545)
In the Museum
The Cloisters (2,300)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Central Europe (including Germany), 1400–1600 A.D.