Description
This exquisite sculpture, carved from fine-grained limestone, still retains traces of its original polychromy.
Standing, the Holy Woman holds the palm of martyrdom in her right hand and the Book of Holy Scriptures in her left. We can already appreciate the elegance and delicacy of the feminine hands, with their elongated fingers, detailed down to the finely revealed fingernails. The thick Holy Book, displayed open, reveals finely detailed pages that offer subtle remnants of the original script to the viewer’s eye.
The young woman is adorned with a wide, pleated turban fastened by a fibula, allowing glimpses of her beautiful hair, with gracefully rendered wavy curls.
The holy woman, with her downcast eyes, casts a distant and meditative gaze. Her beautiful, serene face with youthful features is marked by a sincere spirituality. The sculptor thus emphasizes her great piety. The rounded, open forehead and the eyes that taper slightly towards the temples are features that are entirely characteristic of 15th-century Champagne sculpture.
She is wearing a green dress with a square neckline, revealing her red shirt. A thin belt cinches her waist, and a wide blue coat covers her sloping shoulders, one end of which falls over her right arm. The thick fabric with its pronounced pleating is reminiscent of Burgundian sculpture.
This artwork, full of gentleness and delicacy, is particularly well preserved. It is worthy of the chisel of a great master who knew how to transmit the grace and intrinsic fullness of the Saint.