St Blaise

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Maker

Title

St Blaise

Date of Production

16th century

Object Number

D.2025.XX.5

Credit

Courtauld Gallery, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust). Gift of Alastair John Smith, 2025.

Label Text

This beautifully rendered figure of St Blaise in a niche may have been preparatory for a figure in painting or fresco. Executed with delicate use of brown wash and white heightening, the saint is shown holding in his right hand one of his attributes: a wool comb, which identified him as the patron saint of wool workers. In his left hand he holds a crosier.

The style of the drawing, in particular the modelling through the application of brown wash and white heightening, suggests a yet unidentified Lombard artist of the first half of the 16th century.

Provenance

Frost & Reed Ltd, Bristol (1963) where acquired by John Smith; gifted to The Samuel Courtauld Trust, 2025

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