Virgin and Child thumbnail 1
Virgin and Child thumbnail 2
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images
On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Virgin and Child

Relief
ca. 1425-1450 (made)
Artist/Maker
Ghiberti, Lorenzo (Workshop of)
Place of origin
Florence (made)

The fifteenth-century theologian Fra Giovanni Dominici recommended that parents keep images ‘in which your child might delight. The Virgin Mary is good to have with the child on her arm’. Inventories show that such images were mainly kept in the camera, or bedchamber, where close friends and family were also received. The relief enjoyed great popularity and was much reproduced.

Object details

Categories
Sculpture
Christianity
Religion
Object type
Relief
TitleVirgin and Child (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Pigmented stucco
Stucco
Brief description
Relief, Virgin and Child, pigmented stucco, workshop of Lorenzo Ghiberti, Italy (Florence), ca. 1425-50
Physical description
Pigmented stucco relief depicting the Virgin and Child.
Dimensions
  • Height: 88.5cm
  • Width: 74.5cm
  • Depth: 23cm
  • Weight: 40kg
Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries
Gallery label
(2008)
THE VIRGIN AND CHILD
About 1425-50
Workshop of Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378-1455)

The 15th-century theologian Fra Giovanni Dominici recommended that parents keep images 'in which your child may delight. The Virgin Mary is good to have with the child on her arm'. Inventories show that such images were mainly kept in the camera, or bedchamber, where close friends and family were also received. This composition was clearly popular as several variants survive.

Italy, Florence

Pigmented stucco

Museum no. A.33-1910
Given by Mr J.H. Fitzhenry
Credit line
Given by Mr J. H. Fitzhenry
Object history
Given by J.H. Fitzhenry.
Historical context
The relief enjoyed great popularity and was much reproduced.
Subjects depicted
Mary (Virgin Mary)
The Christ Child
Summary
The fifteenth-century theologian Fra Giovanni Dominici recommended that parents keep images ‘in which your child might delight. The Virgin Mary is good to have with the child on her arm’. Inventories show that such images were mainly kept in the camera, or bedchamber, where close friends and family were also received. The relief enjoyed great popularity and was much reproduced.
Bibliographic references
  • Maclagan, Eric and Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture. Text. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1932, p. 15
  • Pope-Hennessy, John, assisted by Lightbown, Ronald. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Volume I: Text. Eighth to Fifteenth Century. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1964, p. 59
  • Raggio, Olga. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Art Bulletin. Vol. L, 1968, p. 100
  • Curtis, Penelope, Depth of Field: the place of relief in the time of Donatello, Leeds: Henry Moore Institute, 2004
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
A.33-1910

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Record createdFebruary 25, 2004
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O93902/virgin-and-child-relief-ghiberti-lorenzo/
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