Saints Barbara and Mary Magdalene

Discussion

FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

Saint Barbara, wearing the crown of martyrdom, holds a miniature version of the tower in which she was imprisoned (for defending her virginity) and a chalice and Host, symbols of her involvement with the Christ's Last Rites. Mary Magdalene displays the alabaster jar from which she anointed Jesus. The postures and intricate naturalism of the figures' bodies recall works by contemporaneous German masters such as Martin Schongauer and the Master of the Saint Bartholomew Altar. This panel and the similar Saints John the Baptist and Jerome , also on this wall, were most likely wings of a triptych featuring a central Crucifixion scene.

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