Statue, limestone painted and gilded, of the Virgin and Child, France (Ile-de-France), ca. 1340-1350

The Virgin wears a tall foliated crown over her veil and a long belted gown. Over her gown she wears a heavy mantle which falls across her front with swag-like folds. In her right hand she holds a hollowed-out lily stem and in her left the half-naked Christ-Child; He blesses with His right hand and holds a small bird, which turns its neck to peck His hand. This is presumably a goldfinch, a symbol of the Passion of Christ (because it likes to eat thistles and is thus linked with the Crown of Thorns), The sculpture has been fully polychromed, although much of what is now visible was later overpainted.

Given by J. Pierpont Morgan

Given by John Pierpont Morgan through Durlacher Brothers, London, in 1911.

Life-sized statues of the Virgin and Child ab ounded in the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Some of the influential types were those on the portals of cathedrals such as at Notre-Dame in Paris, Amies and Reims; these prototypes were copied and their images disseminated throughout Europe from about 1250 to 1350, on both large and small scale.

A seemingly straightforward image of the Virgin Mary often contained a symbol pointing towards the future suffering of her son. In this case it is the goldfinch that Jesus holds. The finch was believed to eat thistles and thorns. This linked it to the Crown of Thorns placed on Christ's head.
Life-size statues of the Virgin and Child abounded in the 13th and 14th centuries. They were set in niches in private chapels, placed under canopies and displayed on the piers of great churches.

A.98-1911