Model for the so-called "Female Saint of Starnberg" 1750 - 1760

Editor: Here we have a small wooden sculpture from around 1750 to 1760, "Model for the so-called 'Female Saint of Starnberg,'" by Ignaz Günther, currently residing at the Metropolitan Museum. It’s beautiful – delicate but dynamic. What catches your eye about this piece? Curator: What leaps out at me is the movement captured in the stillness of wood, that almost seems like it's caught mid-pirouette! Think about it – Günther's carving manages to give us flowing robes and an upward glance frozen in time. Do you get a sense of theatre? Of something *unfolding*? Editor: I do see that now! Like a snapshot from a Baroque opera, very dramatic. Curator: Exactly! And consider its creation as a *model.* Not the final, revered object, but a stepping-stone toward something larger, grander, more permanent… almost a secret peek behind the curtain. I imagine the artist's hand, shaping her narrative with each precise stroke. Editor: That's so interesting. I'd assumed it was a finished artwork. Thinking of it as a sketch… gives it such a different energy. Curator: Absolutely. It’s intimate in a way the final sculpture might not be. What feelings does the work evoke for you? Does her story resonate across centuries? Editor: It makes me think about the creative process itself - the journey from idea to finished piece. I can see now the artist crafting the movement, and thinking through the figure, the form, everything. Curator: A journey, indeed, visible in the wood grain and the poised stillness of our Saint. A pretty stunning glimpse into a beautiful possibility.