Statues were less commonly used as devotional aids. Usually, they were larger and commissioned for Church interiors.
At 23 cm, this miniature statue of St. Barbara may have been an addition to a personal altar in the house or chapel of its owner.
Praying to Saints for intercession was a popular practice for devout people across Europe. The individual could pray to the statues as a way of praying to a Saint.
In some paintings, we can see devotees addressing their prayers to statues.
Below, you can see Rogier van der Weyden’s BeauneAltarpiece, which shows the donors praying to statues on the outer wings.
If you look closely at our painting, you'll see statues decorating the window's arch. It is hard to make out, but the bearded statue is St. John the Baptist. The other two are likely a prophet and prophetess in the ancient tradition.
One statue is missing, though, from this niche: where has it gone?
An important feature of the Devotio Moderna movement is the ability to transcend from the material to the immaterial through meditation. During the process of spiritual prayer, the image in front of our young man at prayer should eventually become obsolete as he imagines the image inside his mind.
This missing statue may be a meditative exercise: like the man in the portrait, we too are meant to be able to imagine the statue and fill in the blank left by Petrus Christus!
This is one interpretation - how do you see it after learning more about Devotio Moderna?
We've put all the pieces together, time for the big reveal...