I think that this is really rather lovely, it’s an altarpiece that once stood at the east end of a church. The doors with the decorated wings are missing, but it has retained much of its colour although some of this appears to have been through restoration (not that I claim to know what I’m talking about, but it feels over-restored to me and a bit too new). The museum simply notes that this is from around 1450, it’s from South Germany and they don’t know what church it’s from.
Unfortunately, it’s not clear who owns this as it’s not listed in the collections of the British Museum or Norfolk Museums Service, but it’s probably the latter.
The museum doesn’t know who this is, other than it’s a female saint. I asked AI for ideas and it claims that this is St Mary Magdalene with “extreme confidence” which is rather strong. It also notes that it is likely to be from Germany and dates to around 1490, so it’s not much disagreeing with the museum on that.
Obviously, I asked AI what the statue would have once looked like. Yet again, I am surprised and delighted at this.
Not much doubt about the Virgin Mary, the central figure.
The museum notes that this is “probably St. Barbara”, and I’ve felt the need to ask AI and it agrees. I’m conscious that AI isn’t necessarily always accurate, but it generally ties into what knowledge is known, so I’m getting ever more confident.
As the sculpture looked a bit surprised, I asked AI to bring this one back to life as well, and it now looks more pious.
On this, I wanted to know whether this would have been in a German church or an English church. AI has given me a series of references to show that this was highly likely made in Germany, as many altarpieces were, and shipped to England. It is confident on this as apparently the three saints portrayed were the ones most commonly requested by the English market.
Even if AI is wrong on some details, I like the background knowledge that it gives me on nearly every exhibit. I do rather think that the museum could be doing a little more here, adding depth