CIRCLE OF HANS LEINBERGER (CIRCA 1475/1480–AFTER 1531) GERMAN, LOWER BAVARIA, CIRCA 1520 | Female Saint, probably Saint Barbara

with illegible stamps to the reverse

Private collection, Austria

Overall the condition of the sculpture is good, with minor dirt and wear to the surface consistent with age. There is minor stable splitting to the wood, consistent with the material, including to the proper right side of the head, the bunch of drapery around the proper right arm, and more notably open splits at the back. There are a few small losses, notably to the finials of the crown, and to the lock of hair at the proper right cheek. A few stable joints are slightly visible (probably reattachments), including at the fingers of the proper right hand and at the proper right foot. There is minor evidence of past worming in areas, notably around the bottom edge (where it has led to some losses), to the drapery falling from the proper left arm, and at the back. The polychromy and gilding has been largely refreshed. There is wear to the polychromy throughout, including areas of loss, notably at the high points of the drapery. There is also minor stable craquelure and flaking to the polychromy throughout.
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This beautiful and impressive figure is likely to represent Saint Barbara, as she appears to have held a chalice between her hands. Stylistic links can be made with Hans Leinberger, not only in the voluminous, crinkled drapery style but the round, fleshy face with small features, a type that is seen in Leinberger's Anna Selbdritt group (Niehoff, op. cit., pl. 3) and figures by his workshop, like the Virgin in a relief from the Rosenkranzmadonna in St Martin, Landshut (ibid., fig. 14). See also Leinberger's half-length Virgin in a private collection, ibid., no. 35. An origin of the present Saint within the Danube School of sculptors is further supported by a comparison of the drapery scheme with a Saint Andrew attributed to the Master IP, illustrated in Guillot de Suduiraut, op. cit., fig. 76.

RELATED LITERATURE
S. Guillot de Suduiraut, Sculptures allemandes de la fin du Moyen Age dans les collections publiques françaises, 1400-1530, exh. cat. Musée du Louvre, Paris, 1991, pp. 261-265; F. Niehoff (ed.), Um Leinberger: Schüler und Zeitgenossen, exh. cat. Spitalkirche Heiliggeist, Landshut, 2006