NARRATOR: This exquisite sculpture of St. Barbara is carved in lindenwood, and retains much of its paint and gilding. It was probably carved around 1500 in Strasbourg. Conservator Michele Marincola.

MARINCOLA: The Saint Barbara is one of the best preserved polychrome sculptures in the Cloisters, or painted wooden sculptures in that nearly every portion of the paint layer is intact or nearly intact. There are some losses: the pinkie on her proper right hand which is folded under her arm and holding up the cloak, is missing. And the front corner of the plinth on which the Saint stands has been replaced, and done in such a manner that it’s very obvious to the viewer that that’s a replacement. There’s also a large split that runs up the left side of Barbara’s face and that’s been filled in with wax because the open split was found to be distracting. . . .

NARRATOR: In the third century, St. Barbara was the daughter of a wealthy pagan who kept her confined in a tower. When she proclaimed her Christian faith, her father had her condemned to death and then carried out the sentence himself, beheading his own daughter. For this, he was promptly struck by lightning. Consequently, Barbara was believed to offer protection against thunderstorms and fires, and she later became the protector of artillerymen and miners. However, the Barbara depicted here is a young, rather haughty woman in a fashionable red gown with gold brocade, and a gold cloak lined with silver and black. Julien Chapuis….

JULIEN CHAPUIS: What is remarkable about this work is the spatial presence of the figure. She stands there, being very pretty and aware of it. And there is a torsion in the body, with the drapery working as a sort of shell around the rather frail body. So the artist works with plays of spirals, which gives the figure this tremendous sense of presence.