V182: The Lovely Bones: Reliquary Busts of Female Saints

Last night a beautiful image popped up on my Pinterest feed ... this one.

Her name is not known - a companion of, or a saint herself? What do you think her expression is saying?

I found her so striking, strange, expressive, and beautiful that I made her my profile pic on Facebook. The Dreamstress then told me that this lady, and her matching sisters, house human remains...in their heads.
There are little doors in the tops of their heads through with the bones of the saints were taken in and out. The Dreamstress wrote an article all about them here.


But are they not lovely? Made c. 1520-30 in possibly Belgium, these busts are carved from oak, then painted and gilded. Most of the time these gals were chillin' in near the altar inside the church, but on important feast days the were paraded through the streets.

The Met has three that appear to all go together, and a fourth in the same style, but with an ornamental stand at the bottom of the bust. They are all exquisitely beautiful and captivating...

Saint Balbina

Noted as a companion of Saint Ursula

Her name is not noted in the Met website

I also found this video on how to re-create the hairstyle of one of these busts, with the overlapping braids. Quite interesting...