Female Saint one of the four Marys, France early 16th century

Head of a holy woman – Limestone
First third of the 16th century – Champagne / Circle of maître de Chaource
Height: 20 cm – Weathered, chipping, losses (part of nose..)

This is a limestone head of a woman whose face is enclosed in a wimple, precisely defining her features and highlighting them. The wimple is topped by a veil, only the outlines of which can be distinguished due to missing material. The oval shape of the face, emphasized by the fabric, has severe features marked by grief but very restrained: elongated, half-closed eyes topped by furrowed brows, a slightly open, arched mouth emphasizing bitterness, prominent cheekbones and a strong nose - although damaged.

This head of a holy woman, probably from a group depicting the Descent from the Cross or the Entombment, reveals little due to its ‘fragmentary’ nature, but at the same time concentrates a series of characteristics that reveal the influence of the workshop of the Master of Chaource, identified in recent years as Jacques Bachot, active between 1497 and 1528.

Notable examples include the Virgin of Mercy in Bayel (1510), the Sepulchre in Chaource (1515) and the Deposition of Christ in Villeneuve l'Archevêque (1528), where the faces of the holy women bear similarities to the one presented here: fairly flat oval faces with prominent cheekbones, slightly protruding chins, swollen upper eyelids, thin, slightly parted mouths that are more or less curved...
We also find the same expression of deeply internalised pain, which is all the more striking.

The physiognomy of Jacqueline de Laignes, who donated the Sepulchre of Chaource with her husband, also shares common features with our face: the same oval shape contained within a wimple, the same sad yet restrained expression.

Bibliography :
Jacques Baudoin « La Sculpture Flamboyante en Champagne Lorraine » (Éditions CRÉER)
Julien Marasi « Le Maître de Chaource, découverte d’une Identité. Catalogue Raisonné » (Commune de Chaource)