Terms and Conditions
The artist, title and date of the work must be listed anywhere the image is reproduced:
Germany
Hans Backoffen (workshop of)
Saint John (c. 1510)
polychromed limewood
131.8 × 35.8 × 25.2 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1941
Photo: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
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Saint John
(c. 1510)
Medium
polychromed limewood
Measurements
131.8 × 35.8 × 25.2 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1941
Gallery location
14th - 16th Century Gallery - Painting & Decorative Arts
Level 1, NGV International
About this work
Churches played a prominent role in the daily life in medieval and Renaissance Europe. They typically faced onto busy market places and public squares and were sometimes dedicated to a local saint. Church exteriors often served as a ‘Poor Man’s Bible’, and were elaborately decorated with sculptures, paintings or mosaics that illustrated mankind’s salvation through repentance. In southern Germany limewood sculptures were typically situated in the covered areas around a church entrance. Subject to exposure, such sculptures would often be replaced when they became damaged or out of date.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Germany
Accession Number
4791-D3
Department
International Sculpture
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Dame Carol Colburn-Grigor CBE through Metal Manufactures Limited