This is a limestone sculpture from the period 1490 to 1510, once in the church in Gaula, Santa Cruz which is on the island of Madeira. It depicts Saint Blaise who became famous because he saved a child who had a fish-bone stuck in their throat, apparently by praying enthusiastically. He was then known as someone quite good at dealing with toothache, throat issues and general health issues relating to the head. He’s the patron saint of Dubrovnik and the English town of St. Blazey is named after him.
Emperor Licinius, who was meant to be quite helpful towards Christians initially, didn’t entirely like Saint Blaise, so he had him beheaded. That feels slightly unreasonable, but I suppose they were different times.
But, back to the limestone sculpture that I liked. There are some polychrome traces, so this was once painted rather than being bare limestone. The church in Santa Cruz opened in 1530, although it was later replaced with a more substantial affair. I assume that this was once located in a niche in the church, but I’m not sure how it made its way to the museum.
And I’ve gone to AI to show me what this sculpture might once have looked like when painted. This seems like a remarkably decent attempt at recolouring the sculpture, it genuinely feels like it has been brought back to life.