Title

Saint Catherine

Anónimo castellano

Generic classification

Object

Date

Century

Cultural context / style

Dimensions

Material

Technique

Iconography / Theme

Provenance

Current location

Object history

The origin of this carving is unknown, although Corti (1994) maintains that it comes from Castile. To justify his hypothesis, he refers to other pieces that share common features: the chubby face with a pronounced chin, small nose, and thin eyebrows is reminiscent of the Virgin in the cloister of León Cathedral (Franco, 1998); on the other hand, the languid hands are present in works such as the Virgin of Nuestra Señora de la Peña in Ágreda, Soria (Cook and Gudiol, 1956); finally, the drapery of the mantle is very similar to that of the Savior in the Diocesan Museum of Valladolid (Ara, 1977).

The piece was purchased in 1921 by Enrique Larreta, who was looking for new works to decorate several of his residences in Buenos Aires (Argentina). That same year, he visited the retrospective art exhibition commemorating the 700th anniversary of Burgos Cathedral, where he came into contact with local antique dealers such as Evencio López González. In addition, the writer had the help of Ignacio Zuloaga, who worked as a dealer for him; he visited Zaragoza, Teruel, Cuenca, Seville, and Paris, among many other cities, to satisfy the diplomat's demands (Nobilia, 2018). Larreta took the sculpture to his residence inAcelain, Tandil (Buenos Aires), a house he designed in the Arabic style. A newspaper report from the time described it as follows: "It has Spanish ironwork, armor, and paintings that time has darkened, but which he contemplates with great light, as if they had just been painted. He brought everything from Spain and lives among his objects as if on a grand stage where he performs the anachronistic drama of his figurations"(Corbalán, 1950). The sculpture is currently preserved in Acelain.

Description

The sculpture depicts Saint Catherine, who holds a cogwheel in her left hand and a palm of martyrdom in her right hand. She is dressed in a round-necked skirt and a long cloak that falls over her shoulders. The piece was originally polychromed, as can be seen in the remains of gold paint on her hair and the reddish tones of the cloak and wheel (Corti, 1994).

Locations

• Second half of the XIV^th c.

  region

  Possible origin from Castile and Leon, Castilla y León (Spain)

• ca. 1921

  private collection

  Enrique Larreta, Buenos Aires (Argentina) *

• Third quarter of the XX^th c. - present

  museum

  Acelain, Buenos Aires (Argentina)