Not currently on display at the V&A

St Bruno

Statuette
ca. 1800 - ca. 1820 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This ivory statuette represents Saint Bruno and is made in Spain in about 1800 - 1820. St Bruno (about 1032-1101) was the founder of the Carthusian Order. Although never officially canonised, he is recognised as a saint, as the Holy See approved his cult for Carthusians in 1514, and this was extended to the Universial Church in 1674. He is usually portrayed in Carthusian habit holding a lily and with a skull. Although somewhat neo-classical in style, and so likely to date from the early nineteenth century, the present figure is stylistically related to seventeenth- century Spanish and Portuguese sculpture in wood, such as the work of Manuel Pereira (1588-1683), whose life-size polychromed wood figure of St Bruno was made for the Carthusian monastery of Miraflores outside Burgos before 1635.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleSt Bruno (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Ivory on wood base
Brief description
Statuette, ivory on wood base, 'St Bruno', Spain, ca. 1800-1820
Physical description
Ivory statuette on wood base of St Bruno. The saint, wearing a Carthusian habit, stands, resting on his left leg, his right leg stepping forward. His right arm and hand are outstretched with open palm, his left arm is stretched out with a clasped hand, perhaps originally holding a lily. The mitre is placed on the base at his feet. The wood base rests on four ivory bun feet; an ivory scroll fixed to the base is inscribed. Some fingers are broken off; an object (probably a skull) missing from the left corner of the base. A paper label inscribed '40' is stuck onto the back of the base.
Dimensions
  • Height: 4.375cm
  • Whole height: 15.9cm
  • Ivory alone height: 10.4cm
Marks and inscriptions
'S. BRVNO' (On the scroll fixed to the base.)
Credit line
From the Murray bequest in 1910
Object history
Although somewhat neo-classical in style, and so likely to date from the early nineteenth century, the present figure is stylistically related to seventeenth-century Spanish and Portuguese sculpture in wood, such as the work of Manuel Pereira (1588-1683), whose life-size polychromed wood figure of St Bruno was made for the Carthusian monastery of Miraflores outside Burgos before 1635.
Subject depicted
Summary
This ivory statuette represents Saint Bruno and is made in Spain in about 1800 - 1820. St Bruno (about 1032-1101) was the founder of the Carthusian Order. Although never officially canonised, he is recognised as a saint, as the Holy See approved his cult for Carthusians in 1514, and this was extended to the Universial Church in 1674. He is usually portrayed in Carthusian habit holding a lily and with a skull. Although somewhat neo-classical in style, and so likely to date from the early nineteenth century, the present figure is stylistically related to seventeenth- century Spanish and Portuguese sculpture in wood, such as the work of Manuel Pereira (1588-1683), whose life-size polychromed wood figure of St Bruno was made for the Carthusian monastery of Miraflores outside Burgos before 1635.
Bibliographic references
  • 'Salting Bequest (A. 70 to A. 1029-1910) / Murray Bequest (A. 1030 to A. 1096-1910)'. In: List of Works of Art Acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum (Department of Architecture and Sculpture). London: Printed under the Authority of his Majesty's Stationery Office, by Eyre and Spottiswoode, Limited, East Harding Street, EC, p. 163
  • Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Carvings in Ivory. Part II. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1929, p. 105
  • Trusted, Marjorie, Baroque & Later Ivories, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 2013 pp. 345-346
  • Trusted, Marjorie, Baroque & Later Ivories, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 2013, pp. 345-346, cat. no. 342
Collection
Accession number
A.1069-1910

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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