Statue of St Sylvester, carved limewood with traces of polychromy, Middle Rhenish (Mainz?), ca. 1510-1520

The standing figure of a Pope, which probably formed part of a corpus of an altarpiece, can be identified as St Sylvester from the attributes: the papal tiara and staff, which is now lost, and the dragon on a book in his left hand. He is clothed in the vestments of a priest; under the cope he wears a dalmatic and an alb, and over his left forearm a maniple.

Bequeathed by Miss Dorothy Hepworth in memory of Miss Vivian Preece (who later became Lady Stanley Spencer).

Bequeted by Miss D.M. Hepworth in memory of Miss Vivian Preece in 1978.
The standing figure of this pope can be identified as St Sylvester from the attributes: the papal tiara and staff, which is now lost (although a slot in the socle for the staff remains), and the dragon on a book in his left hand. The figure wears the vestments of a priest: under the cope he wears a dalmatic and an alb, and oer his left forearm a maniple. The figure, which has been damaged by historic worm infestation, entered the collection in two pieces, having been sawn through at the chest. The pieces were reunited in the object's more recent history. The fingers of the right hand and the snout, wings and tail of the dragon are missing. The top of the papal tiara has been replaced, and the socle has some cracks. The back of the figure has been hollowed out. There are some traces of old pigment in the folds of the drapery, but the surface of the figure is almost stripped of polychromy and has been waxed.
The figure was classified as "Franconian, about 1510" when it entered the museum. However, the style of the drapery and facial expression can be best associated with Middle Rhenish sculpture of the early sixteenth century (see Jopek 2002, p. 42).

The sculpture probably formed part of the corpus or shrine of an altarpiece.

This carved limewood figure of a pope shows Saint Sylvester and was made by an unknown artist in the area of the Middle Rhine, perhaps in Mainz, in ca. 1510-1520. The sculpture probably formed part of the shrine or corpus of a larger altarpiece.

A.56-1978