LOT 0337

Medieval Stone Sculpture of St Mary Magdalene

FRANCE, EARLY 15TH CENTURY A.D.

27 1/2 in. (21.5 kg total, 70 cm high including stand).

Modelled in high relief with dorsal pillar; maiden in advancing pose with fillet to the brow and curly tresses falling to the shoulders, girdle with loop and chain to the waist, copious folds of the robe lifted by the left hand, right hand at waist-height; mounted on a custom-made stand. [No Reserve]

French-Swiss private collection.
The items were acquired in the 2010s to be displayed on the property in Ain, France. Following the move, they disposed of some of the items.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.13514-262848.

Cf. a French sculpture of Mary Magdalene in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, accession no. 40.147.1.

By the early 13th century, bodies in Gothic sculpture acquired more three-dimensional mass, more flexibility, more natural poses and drapery, and individual faces. Later 13th-century sculpture gave up this monumental power for more specific anatomy, actions, and emotions. Late 14th -century and 15th-century work continued in the direction of greater mass and more detailed faces.