Male Saint thumbnail 1
Male Saint thumbnail 2
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Sculpture, Room 111, The Gilbert Bayes Gallery

Male Saint

Statuette
ca. 1610 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Netherlands (made)

When planning a new work, the sculptor usually made preliminary drawings and then a model. The models sometimes formed part of his contract with the patron. They could be rough or detailed, large or small, and were made in clay, terracotta, wood and wax. This was probably a model for a large alabaster sculpture, which again could have formed part of an altarpiece or rood loft.


Object details

Categories
Sculpture
Christianity
Religion
Object type
Statuette
TitleMale Saint (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Carved boxwood
Boxwood
Carving
Brief description
Statuette, carved boxwood, of an unidentified male Saint, North Netherlandish, ca. 1610
Physical description
Statuette of carved boxwood, an unidentified male Saint holding a book (perhaps St John the Evangelist).
Dimensions
  • Height: 10in
  • Width: 4.5in
Object history
Bought, £4 4s. 2d.
Historical context
This figure may have served as a model for a statue in marble or alabaster which could have formed part of an altarpiece or rood loft.
Production
Perhaps St John the Evangelist
Subject depicted
John (Saint John the Evangelist)
Summary
When planning a new work, the sculptor usually made preliminary drawings and then a model. The models sometimes formed part of his contract with the patron. They could be rough or detailed, large or small, and were made in clay, terracotta, wood and wax. This was probably a model for a large alabaster sculpture, which again could have formed part of an altarpiece or rood loft.
Bibliographic references
  • Trusted, M: ,Spanish Sculpture. Catalogue of the Post-Medieval Spanish Sculpture in wood, Terracotta, Alabaster, Marble, Stone, Lead and Jet in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1996, rejected attributions, p. 172
  • Inventory of Art Objects Acquired in the Year 1864 In: Inventory of the Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, Arranged According to the Dates of their Acquisition. Vol I. London: Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., 1868, p. 70
  • Trusted, Marjorie, ed. The Making of Sculpture. The Materials and Techniques of European Sculpture. London: 2007, p. 14, pl. 5
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
165-1864

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Record createdSeptember 7, 2004
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O103279/male-saint-statuette-unknown/
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