Saint Margaret

About the Artwork

Gaggini was a member of a large family of sculptors whose Palermo workshop supplied monumental religious sculptures for the cathedrals of Palermo and Messina in Sicily and Montelione in Calabria. After 1507 Antonello himself worked for 15 years to produce marble sculptures for Palermo Cathedral. This figure of the legendary virgin martyr, Saint Margaret, was probably commissioned for one of these ecclesiastical foundations, possibly the chancel of Palermo Cathedral. The saint is shown reading from a book of hours (a sign of her piety) and trampling upon a dragon, the symbol of Satan. The dragon became the attribute by which she is recognized in sacred art.

Provenance

Adolph Loewi (Los Angeles, California), sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1942.

Exhibition history

Classic to Baroque: A Style Change in the Arts. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 30-November 13, 1949). Object in Focus: Saint Margaret. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 10-March 16, 1998).

Quick Overview

Artist: Antonello Gaggini (Italian, 1478–1536)
Date: c. 1520–1530
Medium: marble
Dimensions: Overall: 139.7 x 54.6 x 18.2 cm (55 x 21 1/2 x 7 3/16 in.)
Type: Sculpture
Classification: Sculpture
Department: European Painting and Sculpture
Credit line: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession no.: 1942.564

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.