Tomb Effigy of St. Christina

Abstract

This effigy of St. Christina lays on top of the saint's tomb in the Catacomb of Santa Cristina, a part of the Sanctuary of Santa Cristina in Bolsena.Cardinal Giovanni di Medici (later Pope Leo X) commissioned the work from Benedetto Buglione in 1493-7 as a part of a major campaign to redecorate the church and tomb of the martyr, largely carried out by Buglione, who was involved in the architectural design of the facade and many sculptures on the interior and exterior of the church. Unlike most of Buglione's other sculptures, this terracotta sculpture is not glazed but was instead painted, though almost none of the paint survives. Here the early Christian martyr, who was according to tradition tortured in multiple ways before finally being beheaded, has a millstone tied around her neck and holds an arrow. Despite the violence of the story, the figure has an angelic sweetness and, her lips parted and head resting on a fine pillow, seems almost to be asleep rather than dead. The statue is now placed atop a grandiose later sarcophagus but was originally in an arcosolium (arched tomb niche embedded in a wall) underneath the altar. Photograph(s) licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.