THE PROPERTY OF A LADY
A PARCEL-GILT POLYCHROME CARVED WOODEN GROUP OF TWO MALE SAINTS

POSSIBLY SPANISH, 13TH OR 14TH CENTURY

Details
A PARCEL-GILT POLYCHROME CARVED WOODEN GROUP OF TWO MALE SAINTS
POSSIBLY SPANISH, 13TH OR 14TH CENTURY

On a later carved wooden plinth; the group carved from several pieces of wood; the reverse unfinished and with an iron brace and suspension loop.
The polychromy distressed; some worming; the crowns later; restorations.
29 1/8 in. (74 cm.) high

Lot Essay

Both these figures have been equipped with later crowns, which serve the twin purpose of concealing the truncation of the tops of their heads and of transforming them into two of the Magi. However, the fact that one of them is holding an open book, which is never the attribute of one of the Magi, suggests that they were originally intended to represent two saints, whose lack of further attributes makes them impossible to identify.

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