Desiderio da Settignano, Settignano 1429 - 1464 Florence, Successor

Desiderio da Settignano

Settignano 1429 - 1464 Florence

Successor

"Saint Helen"

Stucco/plaster

60 x 41 cm, with frame 70 x 51 cm



This profile head in bas-relief - crowned with a diadem and a halo - is an embodiment of serenity and humility, and probably represents Saint Helena (248/50-ca. 300), the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, who was an influential early convert to Christianity. The depiction is modelled on a sandstone relief of c. 1460-64 from the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio (inv. no. 1938.122). It is a sculptural work attributed to the famous Florentine sculptor Desiderio da Settignano. Other repetitions in bronze or white marble (Gunby Hall Estate, Lincolnshire, inv. no. NT 637922; Wightwick Manor, West Midlands, inv. no. NT 1289207) also exist. Later, numerous engravings were also made, and the depiction was also identified in different contexts as the Virgin Mary or Saint Cecilia.