Saint Ursula of Cologne and Four Virgin Martyrs

Unknown

ca. 1500 · Oak, polychromy and gilding · Medieval Art

According to an early medieval legend, Saint Ursula and eleven thousand virgins were massacred by the Huns with arrows at Cologne. The saint originally may have held an arrow and a palm, signifying her martyrdom. A large series of similar figures for sculptural altarpieces was made in Malines in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1500

Medium

Oak, polychromy and gilding

Culture

South Netherlandish

Department

Medieval Art

Credit line

Gift of George Blumenthal, 1941