{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O73884"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O73884/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O73884","accessionNumber":"A.39-1910","objectType":"Figure","titles":[{"title":"A Virgin Saint","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"At the time of its acquisition the present Virgin Saint, which must have originally formed part of the corpus of an altarpiece, was classified as Franconian (Departmental records). The distinctive arrangement of the drapery and the facial type however associate this statue with figures and reliefs which have recently been ascribed by Albrecht Miller to the sculptor Hans Herlin and his workshop, active in Memmingen from about 1500 to 1515 (Miller 1990, pp. 31-52).","physicalDescription":"The crowned female figure is wearing a mantle over a long, high-waisted gown, and stands on a sloping base. The drapery of the mantle shows crumpled folds with gently curved borders. The mantle is caught up under her left hand and falls in a tubular fold; she holds a book in her left hand and turns the page with her right. \r\nThe figure is carved from one piece of wood; several holes have been drilled into the back, which has been flattened and hollowed out. Three wedges of wood have been inserted into the front edge of the base. A label is attached to the back with the number '363' and the present inventory number written in ink. The face  shows several layers of naturalistic flesh tones with red on the cheeks and lips, which are partially rubbed off. Craquelure is visible on the painted surface of the hands. The hair is painted light brown. The gown and sleeves have gilded borders, and were silvered under a green glaze; this has deteriorated and has been repainted in green. Two holes are drilled into the border of the gown over the chest, probably for ornamental buttons. The gilded mantle is glazed with translucent yellow. The protruding shoe and the base are overpainted in blue and green respectively. The crown was made separately and fitted into a ridge on the head. Part of the crown was broken away and restored in the Museum with coloured plaster in 1910 (Departmental records). The centre of the cresting is now missing.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Herlin, Hans","id":"A7489"},"association":{"text":"makers","id":"AAT251917"},"note":"circle of"}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"limewood","id":"x42540"}],"techniques":[{"text":"painting","id":"x30598"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Painted limewood","categories":[{"text":"Sculpture","id":"THES48896"},{"text":"Religion","id":"THES48900"},{"text":"Christianity","id":"THES48978"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SCP","id":"THES48600"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"C","id":"THES397247"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"TCRPS","id":"THES49504"},"free":"","case":"1","shelf":"1","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Statue","id":""}],[{"text":"Fragment","id":"AAT117130"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Memmingen","id":"x35880"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1500 - 1515","earliest":"1495-01-01","latest":"1515-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"110","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"At the time of its acquisition the present Virgin Saint, which must have originally formed part of the corpus of an altarpiece, was classified as Franconian (Departmental records). The distinctive arrangement of the drapery and the facial type however associate A.39-1910 with figures and reliefs which have recently been ascribed by Albrecht Miller to the sculptor Hans Herlin and his workshop, active in Memmingen from about 1500 to 1515 (Miller 1990, pp. 31-52).\r\nProvenance: Bought from Josef Staerk, Nuremberg, for £88 in 1910.","historicalContext":"The scheme of the drapery and the physiognomy are closely related to the Virgin and Child in the church of St  Blasius in Bellamont (Miller 1995, fig. 86) and the Virgin and Child in the Klostermuseum in Ottobeuren, which have been dated about 1510 (Miller 1990, fig. 11), but the present figure seems to be less bulky, and resembles the slightly smaller  Virgin and Child (h. 105cm) in the Skulpturengalerie in Berlin (Demmler 1930, p. 214, inv.no. 5861, fig. p. 214, given by Murray Marks in 1909), and another larger Virgin and Child (h. 141.6cm;  formerly Cologne, Lempertz sale 470, Cologne 1962, lot  897. Christie's sale, London, 6 July 1993, lot 47; fig**).","briefDescription":"Figure, painted limewood, A Virgin Saint, by the circle of Hans Herlin, Germany (Memmingen), ca. 1500-1515","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Jopek, Norbert <font -u>German Sculpture 1430-1540</font>London : V&A Publications, 2002. ISBN 1851773606."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"Saint","id":"AAT150555"},{"text":"book","id":"AAT28051"},{"text":"crown","id":"AAT213701"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["A.39-1910","A.39:1-1910"],"accessionNumberNum":"39","accessionNumberPrefix":"A","accessionYear":1910,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-24","recordCreationDate":"2003-02-05","availableToBook":false}}