St. Margaret in the Cloisters, Sept. 2007

Saint Margaret
Pine with metal appliques and traces of gesso and polychromy
Workshop of Michael Pacher
Austria, South Tirol, Bruneck, now Italy (Trentino-Alto Adige), ca. 1470-1480
From the parish church of Saint Margaret im Dorf, Neustift, near Brixen

Accession # 63.13.2

According to her legend, Saint Margaret was imprisoned for refusing to marry the governor of Antioch. Satan appeared to her in the form of a dragon, swallowing her as she clutched a cross in prayer; she then ripped open his belly with the cross and emerged unscathed. A cross may have been held in one of her now-missing hands; the vanquished dragon lays at her feet. This massive figure probably came from the central shrine of a large polychromed altarpiece.

Text from the Cloisters label.