The Virgin with the Infant Christ Child on Her Knee
Woodcut
1450-1475 (made)
1450-1475 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The Virgin Mary is shown sitting on what appears to be a wooden bench. The Christ Child is wearing a necklace with what appears to be a piece of coral hanging from it. In the Renaissance coral was thought to afford the wearer of it protection against illness.
This is the only surviving example of this print. Its comparatively large scale compared to many other fifteeth century prints suggests that it may have been intended to be stuck up on a wall or on a piece of panelling as a focus for Christian devotion by its earliest owners. It is possible that some of the surface losses to this print are the visible traces of this devotional use.
This is the only surviving example of this print. Its comparatively large scale compared to many other fifteeth century prints suggests that it may have been intended to be stuck up on a wall or on a piece of panelling as a focus for Christian devotion by its earliest owners. It is possible that some of the surface losses to this print are the visible traces of this devotional use.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Woodcut coloured by hand and pasted onto wood |
| Brief description | The Virgin with the Infant Christ Child on Her Knee, woodcut coloured by hand, northern Italian, 1450-1475 |
| Physical description | Woodcut coloured by hand and stuck on wood of The Virgin with the Infant Christ Child on Her Knee. |
| Dimensions |
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| Styles | |
| Gallery label | THE VIRGIN AND CHILD
1450-75
Hundreds of examples of this print were doubtless produced but this is the only known survivor. Being stuck to a wooden surface, perhaps a door, saved it from destruction. Prints like this enabled more people to have religious images in their own homes.
Italy
Woodcut on paper, coloured by hand and stuck onto wood
Museum no.321A-1894
SIGNS AND SYMBOLS
The Virgin Mary has a halo behind her head to show her holiness. As well as being the mother of Jesus, she was 'Queen of Heaven', so she also wears a crown. The top right and left corners of the print have stars representing Heaven. |
| Object history | Purchased from Stefano Bardini. |
| Historical context | The two earliest uses that the new technology of printmaking was put to in Europe in the fifteenth century were the production of playing cards, and Christian images. The latter took the form of images of the Virgin and Child, saints, scenes from the Bible etc. This print is on an unusually large scale for a fifteenth century religous print. Many much smaller than this have only survived because they were pasted into, or inside the covers of, books. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | The Virgin Mary is shown sitting on what appears to be a wooden bench. The Christ Child is wearing a necklace with what appears to be a piece of coral hanging from it. In the Renaissance coral was thought to afford the wearer of it protection against illness. This is the only surviving example of this print. Its comparatively large scale compared to many other fifteeth century prints suggests that it may have been intended to be stuck up on a wall or on a piece of panelling as a focus for Christian devotion by its earliest owners. It is possible that some of the surface losses to this print are the visible traces of this devotional use. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | 321A-1894 |
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| Record created | November 15, 2006 |
| Record URL |
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