Reliquary Bust of a Female Saint in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, February 2014

Reliquary bust of a companion of Saint Ursula

Date:ca. 1520–30

Culture:Belgian, possibly Brussels

Medium:Oak, polychromed and gilt on plaster ground; glass opening for relic

Dimensions:Height: 17 7/8 in. (45.4 cm)

Classification:Sculpture

Credit Line:Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917

Accession Number:17.190.728

This piece is one of twenty-three related reliquary busts, many of which have a Spanish provenance. In addition to the compartment visible on the saint's chest, a hinged opening at the top of her head gives access to another relic container.

Although long believed to be Spanish, this series of busts is closer in style to the work of sculptors from the sourthern Lowlands (Brabant or possibly Brussels), whose influence on Spanish sculpture in the late Gothic period was profound. Some examples may well have been carved in Spain by Brabantine artists who migrated to Spain during this period of close political and artistic relations at the end of the fifteenth and in the early sixteenth century. Another possible explanation is that the Hapsburg emperor Charles V donated the pieces to Spanish churches, or that Spanish officials at his court in Brussels acquired the pieces and brought them back to Spain.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/193612