Virgin and Child
Pietro Lombardo (Italian, c. 1435–1515)
c. 1475–1485
Medium
marble
Dimensions
54.6 × 37.2 × 9.5 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
European Painting and Sculpture
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
General Income Fund
Accession Number
1920.273
Tags
male
About this artwork
In the later 1400s, artists increasingly infused sacred subject matter with a classical vocabulary. The shallow relief and simplified forms ultimately stemmed from ancient sculpture, bringing gravity as well as novelty to a conventional theme. Yet naturalistic elements such as the baby’s bulging navel, chubby wrists, and shirt pulled up to reveal his genitals all humanize Christ, a critical principle of Christian dogma.