Saint Ursula
Artist: Antonio De Solario (Italian, c. 1465 - 1530)
Original Dimensions: 33 1/8" x 15 3/4"
Location: National Gallery of Art, London
About Artwork: (1514) "This panel shows Saint Ursula, and was once the right-hand shutter of a three-part folding altarpiece made for Paul Withypool, an English merchant and courtier. The opposite shutter, also in the National Gallery’s collection, shows Saint Catherine, while the central panel (in Bristol Museums and Art Gallery) shows Withypool in prayer before the Virgin and Child. Ursula married a pagan prince on the condition that he convert to Christianity and allow her a pilgrimage to Rome. According to legend, she was accompanied by 11,000 virgins. On their return via Cologne they were all slaughtered by the Huns who were besieging the city, after Ursula refused to marry their leader. On the panel’s reverse are two cherubs holding a medallion containing an image of Saint Paul, the donor’s patron saint. The coat of arms of the Withypool family are below." - (National Gallery of Art, London)

Panel content
Panel content