Saint

The statue of the now anonymous saint, stripped of the attribute once probably placed in her left hand, is an image of exceptional beauty of a young, wealthy bourgeois woman. An elongated face with pale porcelain complexion and delicate full features envelops a distinctive hairstyle that hides the ears, styled with long straight hair loosely gathered and pinned back low. The woman wears a tightly fitting dress typical of fashion from the turn of the 15th/16th century and a generously draped coat. The wide rim of the crown on her head is decorated with gold buttons, above which the remains of the upper, presumably openwork, are visible.

The graceful statue of the Saint stands out from other Pomeranian sculptures because of the naturalness of its depiction and the individuality of its image. It bears the characteristics of late medieval realisations of south German centres, especially from the Swabian region from where it was probably imported.

Franz Kugler (1808-1858), author of the first study of Pomeranian art (Pommersche Kunstgeschichte, 1840), was already impressed by the noble beauty of the image of the Saint. He spotted the sculpture in the former hospital church of St Mary's. It was placed in the centre of a much older altarpiece at St Gertrude's Church in Szczecin. The hollow back indicates that it was made as a figure to be set in an altar setting. However, the circumstances of its foundation are unknown.

The sculpture is presented in the permanent exhibition Mystery of Light. Medieval art in Pomerania.

Kinga Krasnodębska