Statuette of the Virgin and Child - Styles and Influences
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Statuette of the Virgin and Child
France; 1st third 14th c.
French representations of the Virgin at the beginning of the 14th c. retained some of the older style of elongation of the face, but in this presentation of the nursing Virgin the spontaneity of the movement of the Child, and the expression on His face reveal a scale of human emotions and feeling of motherhood. In these early works of the 1st third of the century Jesus is often more interesting than the Virgin, her clothing is not given so much attention, though there are always deep folds below the knees.
This Mimara statue of the Virgin is very similar to the one in Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, dated the 2nd quarter of the 14th c. (Randall, The Golden Age of Ivory, 1993, p. 38, no. 10) and is an example of the Virgin's feeling of motherhood.