The Virgin and Child

This statue of carved wood representing the Virgin and Child is made by an unknown artist in Florence in ca. 1400.

The Virgin stands supporting the Child on her left arm and holding His foot with her right hand. He holds out a bird in His left hand, and looks round over His shoulder.

The thirteenth century saw the development of the cult of the Virgin which had grown up in the previous century. The Hours of the Virgin were now recited daily and many tracts were written upon her virtues and her symbolic status.

Images of the Virgin and Child were found in virtually every noble household in 15th-century Florence. They acted as a focus for personal devotion and were thought to protect the family from harm.