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Philippe Liébert

Saint Margaret of Antioch
Panel from the Sacred Heart Altar, General Hospital of the Grey Nuns of Montreal

Artist

Philippe Liébert
Nemours, France, 1732 – Montreal 1804

Title

Saint Margaret of Antioch
Panel from the Sacred Heart Altar, General Hospital of the Grey Nuns of Montreal

Date

1790

Materials

Gilded wood

Dimensions

60 x 33 x 3 cm

Credits

Gift of Concordia University in honour of the legacy of the Sisters of Charity of Montreal, "Grey Nuns", inv. 2009.14.1.1

Collection

Decorative Arts and Design

Restoration of the panel by the Centre de conservation du Québec, 2009-2010

The art historian Gérard Morisset, who rediscovered Liébert in the 1940s, particularly praised the composition and technique of the Grey Nuns’ Sacred Heart Altar. Experts still share his high opinion of the altar’s graceful proportions and the balanced arrangement of its ornaments and reliefs. The sculptural iconography is worth noting. Saint Marguerite of Antioch, the patron saint of women in childbirth, refers to the Grey Nuns’ founder Marguerite d’Youville and her mission towards foundlings. She inaugurated the Sacred Heart Chapel in 1760. This altar was installed there around 1790.

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