Standing Virgin and Child
Unknown Artist
probably early 20th century (late 13th century style)
Medium
Marble (Lunense marble from Carrara)
Dimensions
Overall: 35 3/4 x 12 x 6 in. (90.8 x 30.5 x 15.2 cm)
Classification
Sculpture-Stone
Culture
Italian
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of George Blumenthal, 1941
Accession Number
41.100.152
Art Historical Context
This graceful *Standing Virgin and Child*, carved from fine Lunense marble quarried in Carrara, Italy, stands nearly three feet tall, embodying the tender devotion central to medieval Christian art. Though created by an unknown artist in the early 20th, it meticulously revives the elegant style of late 13th-century Italian sculpture—think elongated proportions, gentle S-curves, and a serene, frontal pose that invites quiet contemplation. The Virgin Mary, cradling the Christ Child, the Gothic-era iconography that flourished in Italy, where such figures adorned churches and homes as symbols of m...