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Saint Margaret spent her life following the teachings of Christ. The governor of ancient Antioch (the ancient Roman province of Syria, now modern Turkey) was struck by Margaret's beauty and vowed to marry her but she refused. The governor then threw her into a dungeon, where the devil appeared to Margaret as a dragon. Just as the dragon swallowed Margaret, she made the sign of the cross. The cross grew and grew, splitting the dragon in two and allowing Margaret to escape.

This painted wooden sculpture of Saint Margaret has a flat back; a clue that is was carved to stand against a wall. A circle at the center of Margaret's chest provides access to a small hole in the sculpture that would have contained a relic. Relics were small objects or body parts, like a toe or finger, belonging to a saint or a religious leader. During the Medieval Period and early Renaissance, relics were believed to have spiritual power and were often kept in church shrines and sculptures. The dragon of the Saint Margaret legend appears at the bottom of the sculpture, gently held by a calm Margaret as she raises her other hand, perhaps to make the sign of the cross that caused the dragon's demise.

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