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Saint Bridget of Sweden
Saint Bridget (ca. 1303-1373) was canonized for her great piety and her exemplary dedication to the poor. Her greatest influence, however, was through her writings, recording her visions of Christ. These widely-circulated accounts-represented here by the book she carries-provided artists, especially in northern Europe, with sources for their imagery.
The remarkable suggestion of soft skin and mouth humanize the saint. This treatment is a fine reflection of how 15th-century artists conveyed the new interest in inner spiritual states through a naturalistic rendering of surface characteristics. In addition, the large head and small lower portions of this figure suggest that it was meant to be seen from below.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Dikran Kelekian, Paris and New York; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1921, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| 9/6/1962 | Examination | examined for condition; cleaned |
| 10/27/2015 | Examination | Examined |
| 10/27/2015 | Examination | Examined for active salt effluorescence |
| 11/23/2015 | Treatment | Cleaned to remove soluble salts formed due to exposure to volatile organic acids off-gassed from materials within display case. |
| 11/23/2015 | Treatment | Cleaned |
Geographies
France (Place of Origin)
Measurements
24 1/2 x 11 7/16 x 8 1/4 in. (62.3 x 29 x 21 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters, 1921
Location in Museum
Centre Street: Third Floor: 15th-Century Art of Northern Europe
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
27.443