The Virgin and Child

This statuette of the Virgin and Child is by an unknown artist from Germany dating from ca. 1550-1600.

The interior contains a cavity for keeping relics.

The Virgin is placed on a pedestal which contains scenes depicting the Temptation of Eve.

This seems to be a retrospective piece, made in the sixteenth century, but imitating the style of the early fifteenth century. The base is a copy of an early fifteenth century one now in the Cloisters collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. It was probably intended for a Kunstkammer (cabinet of curiosity). Cabinets of Curiosities often included such works, recalling an earlier style.