Southern Germany, 16th Century, Large Polychrome Wooden Sculpture Of St. Nicholas (h 87)

This large sculpture of St. Nicholas is a 16th-century German work, likely from Swabia.
Traditionally depicted as a bishop, he is easily identifiable here thanks to his usual attributes: the three purses resting on his book, a reference to the legend in which he provided dowries for three poor young women; his episcopal vestments; and the mitre and crosier.
His tall, elongated proportions and the stretching of his narrow figure, along with his small face, are accentuated by his tall mitre and the movement of his arms held close to his body.
His delicate face, slightly turned, with its gentle, pensive gaze, is framed by locks of hair.
He wears the liturgical vestments of a Bishop of Myra, a symbol of his religious status: a gilded cope with sharp, angular folds and a fringed dalmatic.
The treatment of the drapery is characteristic of the 16th century.
In his left hand, he holds the (rear) shaft of his crozier, tightly encircling it with his clasped fingers, a symbol of his role as shepherd of the faithful.

Given all these stylistic features, one might think that this Saint Nicholas, an altarpiece sculpture (with a hollowed back), comes from a workshop in Memmingen, following in the footsteps of Ivo Strigel.
Dimensions: H 87 cm / W 24 cm / D 12 cm.
Later base: H 7 cm / W 25 cm / D 18 cm.

From a major private collection.