St. Mary of Egypt
Location: St. Anne altarpiece, Chapel of the High Constable
Burgos Cathedral, Spain
As is usual in the West, Mary is shown with hair that flows down to cover her entire body, but the sculptor has also put on her lap the cloak that Zosimus gave her. To make the hair even more clothing-like, it is cinched at the waist with a belt of twigs. The belt resembles the Crown of Thorns, as does her headband.
The book is a reference to her knowledge of scripture – which, however, came directly from God rather than from books, which she was unable to read.
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Photographed at the cathedral by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.