Virgin and Child

This chased bronze panel by S. Beresford (active 1850-1900) is a copy of a relief (inv.no. 66-1866) in the Museum's collection in the style of the mid-15th-century Italian sculptor Desiderio da Settignano. Beresford was awarded a prize of £10 in the Society of Arts Art-Workmanship Competition of 1867. Beresford was a sculptor and medallist active in England in the second half of the 19th century. The original renaissance relief on which this version is based had been acquired by the Museum in 1866 (inv. no. 66-1866). Two other bronze versions of the renaissance original were acquired by the Museum in this same year, 1868, both likewise prize-winners in the Society of Arts Art-Workmanship competition, one by Thomas Nichols (inv. no. 857-1868), and the other by H.C. Hatfield Senior (inv. no. 858-1868).