Virgin and Child
May one see it?
Not receiving at present
Victoria and Albert Museum
London, United Kingdom
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- 9 days ago
- In this state since
- Sep 25, 2026
- Source
- The museum's own collection data
About the sculpture
This is an ivory statuette made in about 1270-1300, probably in Spain, perhaps Burgos or León. This statuette represents the Virgin, seated, holding a book in her right hand, her left arm supporting the Child who stands upon her left knee. The child holds an apple in his left hand.
It is entirely likely that French ivory Virgin and Child sculptures had made their way to Northern Spain in the decades after 1240, acting as models for local craftsmen; the impact of the Amiens workshop on stone sculptors at Burgos in these tears is well known, and this French influence continued throughout the thirteenth century.
Read on
Three dimensional images of the Virgin and Child were ubiquitous from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries, produced in a wide range of materials and sizes and testifying the overwhelming devotion to th Virgin. Together with the Crucifixion, statues and statuettes of the Virgin and Child were the pricipal objects of devotion in the Christian Church, and vast numbers were made for ecclesisastical, monastic and private worship.
Victoria and Albert Museum
Particulars
- Accession number
- 207-1867
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Victoria and Albert Museum: the museum's own open data · fetched 9 days ago
- Image: Victoria and Albert Museum — © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
