The Miracle of Saint Leonard of Limoges

We are grateful to Guido Messling for suggesting on the basis of a photograph that this work was painted by the Augsburg painter Jörg Breu the Elder, or possibly his workshop (written communication, 28 July 2016), noting that the warm, tonal colors, the statuesque figures, as well as the foreshortened heads of the fallen princess and the kneeling huntsman behind are typical of the artist’s style. Dr. Messling proposes that the panel was painted shortly after Breu’s return to Augsburg in 1502 from his sojourn in Austria, based on comparisons with the three altarpieces Breu painted there. The composition clearly reflects the influence of Albrecht Dürer’s engraving of St. Eustace, normally dated c. 1501, particularly in the sharply modeled dogs and the standing huntsman at left. The patron saint of prisoners, Leonard here is shown performing one of his miracles: Queen Clothilda, the wife of Clovis, was struck with labor pains while out hunting and was saved though the Saint’s prayers.