St. Uncumber

[My Good Babushka]

St. Uncumber or St. Wilgefortis is a 14th century female saint with a large beard. Art historians believe the cult may have arisen after copies of an icon wearing the eastern style tunic, instead of a loincloth, were introduced into northern Europe. The figure was mistaken for a woman and a narrative emerged to support the androgynous figure. The tale became one of a Portuguese teenage girl who took a vow of chastity and escaped her arranged marriage by miraculously sprouting a beard. In anger, her father crucified her. She is often depicted with a small fiddler below her and a silver shoe dropping from one of her feet. A supposed miracle occurred when a poor, shoeless pilgrim prayed at the base of one of her icons, and her shoes dropped at the feet of her devotee.