Philippe Liébert
Saint Augustine
Panel from the Sacred Heart Altar, General Hospital of the Grey Nuns of Montreal
Philippe Liébert
Nemours, France, 1732 – Montreal 1804
Saint Augustine
Panel from the Sacred Heart Altar, General Hospital of the Grey Nuns of Montreal
1790
Gilded wood
60 x 33 x 3 cm
Gift of Concordia University in honour of the legacy of the Sisters of Charity of Montreal, "Grey Nuns", inv. 2009.14.1.2
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.
