A Male Saint thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

A Male Saint

Bust
ca. 1630-1650 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Ticino (made)

This bust and the companion bust (V&A no: A.57:1-1920), are said to have come from a church in the canton of Ticino, near the Swiss-Italian border. They probably formed part of an altarpiece or a large reliquary. Much of the surviving polychromy is original.


Object details

Categories
Sculpture
Religion
Christianity
Access_to_Images 2003
Object type
Bust
TitleA Male Saint (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Limewood
Limewood
Brief description
Bust, limewood, Head of a Male Saint, North Italy (Ticino), ca. 1630-1650
Physical description
Head of a male saint, bust in limewood. The head, which is tilted slightly upward to the left, is painted naturalistically. The hair is dark brown, and the cloak is gold on the outside and patterned red and gold on the inside. The breastplate (which is carved with a grotesque head on the chest), the pauldrons and the sleeves are coloured in gold and dark blue or black.
Dimensions
  • Height: 59.7cm
Credit line
Purchased with the assistance of Sir Eric Miller
Object history
Bought from F. Partridge for £250 (Sir Eric Miller contributed £200).
Subjects depicted
Saints
Breastplates
Grotesques
Summary
This bust and the companion bust (V&A no: A.57:1-1920), are said to have come from a church in the canton of Ticino, near the Swiss-Italian border. They probably formed part of an altarpiece or a large reliquary. Much of the surviving polychromy is original.
Associated object
A.57:1-1920 (Set)
Bibliographic references
  • Pope-Hennessy, John. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Volume II: Text. Sixteenth to Twentieth Century. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1964, p. 642
  • Raggio, Olga. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albertt Museum. Art Bulletin. Vol. L, 1968, p. 105
  • Montagu, Jennifer. Alessandro Algardi. New Haven and London, 1985, cat. 75 L. B. 2D. I., p. 383
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
A.133-1956

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Record createdFebruary 25, 2004
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O93925/a-male-saint-bust-unknown/
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