A South German polychromed and gilt wood figure of a Monastic “Poor Soul” (

Depicted standing and shown frontally, the skeletal figure is largely concealed by a long, cinctured monastic habit. The hooded skull is inclined slightly to one side, and the figure holds a scythe while presenting a book surmounted by a skull, attributes associated with mortality and moral reckoning.Although such figures are frequently described as personifications of Death (Tod in Mönchskutte), the present sculpture may more plausibly represent a deceased, unredeemed monk, or Arme Seele (“Poor Soul”). The restrained posture and contemplative character contrast with the animated skeletal figures of contemporary Danse Macabre imagery and align more closely with devotional representations of souls in purgatory. The monastic costume, rendered without specific order insignia, is characteristic of Southern German Baroque sculpture.The cult of the Arme Seelen, formally sanctioned by the Church at the Council of Florence in 1439, remained influential in Southern Germany through the Baroque period, and sculptures of this type served as moralising reminders of mortality and the efficacy of prayer for the dead.Wear and surface abrasion consistent with age; losses to the gilding and polychromy; the scythe with oxidation and patina.