Saint Barbara
Medium
tempera on wood panel
Dimensions
unframed: 86.3 × 29.2 cm · framed: 91 × 34.5 × 5.5 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Bequest of John L. Severance
Accession Number
1942.633.2
Tags
male
About this artwork
Saint Barbara holds both a book and a ring symbolizing her scholarly pursuits and union with God. According to legend, the leather thongs with which she was beaten were transformed into peacock plumes. This painting and one other in the collection (1942.633.1) were originally the wings of an altarpiece flanking a central panel, now lost, that may have depicted the Holy Family. The identity of this artist is unknown, but he is named for a painting in the Chapel of the Holy Blood in Bruges. Bruges...