Impressions: Stories Behind the Collection

Solace through Sculpture: Uncovering the History of a Plague Saint

Since joining the Norton Simon Museum’s curatorial team in 2019, it has been thrilling to uncover opportunities for new research in the Museum’s collections. Last summer while preparing for my forthcoming exhibition The Expressive Body: Memory, Devotion, Desire (1400–1750), I came across a 15th-century Italian polychrome—or painted—sculpture of Saint Sebastian, which has never been on view to the public.