Sainte Marguerite Terrassant Le Dragon

St. Margaret of Antioch, full-length, slaying the dragon

Laudin workshop

Limoges, France, 16th century

Large enameled copper plate in perfect condition.

Height: 19.3 cm;

Width: 15.7 cm

Full-length portrayal of Saint Margaret of Antioch of Pisidia slaying the dragon on a domed rectangular enameled copper plate.

She is dressed in blue, carrying in her right hand, above the dragon's head, open mouth, a gilded cross and in her left hand, the gilded palm of martyrs.

The plaque is pierced at the top edge and encircled by gold fillets.

The reverse is enameled in very dark blue, almost black, and bears the following inscription: "Laudin au Faubourg de Maniane à Limoges".

Marguerite d'Antioche de Pisidie (sometimes confused with Saint Marine or Saint Marina) was a 4th-century Roman virgin martyr. Her story is taken from the Golden Legend by Jacques de Voragine: converted to Christianity, she took a vow of virginity, rejecting the advances of the Roman governor Olybrius, and refusing to recant her faith. Olybrius puts her in prison, where she is visited by the devil in the form of a dragon. As she began to pray, the dragon swallowed her and the cross she was holding. St. Marguerite then miraculously pierced the monster's belly with her cross, emerging unscathed, thus overcoming it. Her martyrdom continued, however, and she was beheaded in around 305 AD.C.

Sainte Marguerite was chosen by popular devotion as the protector of pregnant women, and she was, along with Saint Michael and Saint Catherine of Alexandria, one of the three saints who appeared to Joan of Arc and entrusted her with her mission.

The same representation of the saint can be found in the Musée Sainte-Croix in Poitiers

Limoges, France 17-18 th century.