Saint Margaret

Artist: Johann Von Soest (German, Active second half of the 15th century)

Original Dimensions: 31 3/4" x 18 7/8"

Location: National Gallery of Art, London

About Artwork: (Late 1470s to early 1480s) "This is one of two fragments in the National Gallery’s collection of a larger work that showed the Virgin Mary and Christ Child seated in a garden. It shows Saint Margaret, who was from the town of Antioch (in modern-day Turkey). She wears a headdress of pearls, as her name means ‘pearl’ in Greek and Latin. According to her legend, Saint Margaret escaped from the stomach of a dragon which had swallowed her whole by making the sign of the cross. Here she is shown holding a gilded cross and using the monstrous creature – it bares its teeth at the right of the fragment – as a seat. She holds the animal by a golden chain, emphasising her victory over it. The inscription on her halo, which has been repainted, reads: ‘Sancta margarit’. Although the panel is badly damaged, there is part of a lamb’s body behind Margaret. The lamb was the attribute of Saint Agnes; her name means ‘lamb’ in Latin." - (National Gallery of Art, London)