The Virgin and Child

This is a panel relief in purple-veined white marble, made in the third quarter of the 15th century in Florence. This relief, representing the Virgin and Child, is in the style of Desiderio da Settignano (1428-1464). This popular composition is recorded in a number of reliefs in pigmented stucco and in paintings from the workshop of Neri di Bicci (1419-1491). The relationship between the marble and the stuccos is problematic. The measurements of an example in the museum in Berlin-Dahlem agree closely enough to this relief to suggest that the stucco is a squeeze (or cast) from it.