click on any object shown in the image
This oak statue of the crowned virgin martyr St Catherine holding a book is a typical fourteenth-century work from Ile de France. Wooden statues such as this were commissioned frequently in the 14th century when the cult of the saint spread throughout France and the rest of Europe.
The ‘contraposto’ shape -- the ‘s’ curve of the body -- is characteristic of the 14th-century type, but more commonly seen in invories of this period.
The sculpture is in very fine condition, with all original carving and remains of 14th-century polychrome laid over the gesso ground. The quality of the piece can be seen in the fine carving of the folds; they very in line and rythm across and around the form of the saint.
