Saint Catherine, France 1500-1550

Saint Catherine. Limestone with traces of original polychromy. Early 16th century. France, workshops of Troyes. Height: 69 cm. Upper part of sword missing. Excellent condition.

The Saint is standing, her head slightly bowed, wearing a headdress covering her hair, a dress laced at the chest and a cloak edged with braid decorated with a diamond pattern and pearls, one side of which falls over the front. She holds the book, symbolising her knowledge, in her right hand and rests her other hand on the sword of her martyrdom.
The preciousness and originality of the costume, particularly the headdress, suggest that this work can be located in eastern France, in the Champagne and Lorraine regions, as evidenced by the Saint Madeleine de Génicourt, the work of a Troyes workshop, and the Sainte Femme de Moncheux, kept at the Musée de Nancy.
The headdress also allows us to date this representation of Saint Catherine more precisely to around 1500: indeed, costumes became increasingly original at the dawn of the Renaissance.
Now, if we refine our research a little further, the Saint's pretty face, with its fine features and elongated eyes, is more closely related to the art of Champagne/Troyes than to that further east.
Her face is thus similar to that of Saint Margaret of Arrelles or that of the Virgin of Piety in Rigny le Ferron.

Bibliography:
Boccador Jacqueline – La statuaire médiévale de 1400 à 1530
Baudoin Jacques – La sculpture flamboyante – Champagne Lorraine