Seated Virgin and Child

This substantial figure group sits on the cusp between the Romanesque and Gothic styles. The Virgin’s robe shows the last vestiges of dampfold drapery with its linear folds over her shoulders and elbows, alongside indications of the more naturalistic folds of Gothic drapery as it falls over the knee and ankles.

The pose of the group is also midway between the rigid frontal pose of earlier Virgin and Child groups of the Sedes Sapientia (Throne of Wisdom) type, and the more animated and intimate Gothic examples which began to appear later in the 1200s. The Virgin’s right knee is deliberately placed slightly lower to seat the Christ Child, giving her figure an element of movement. The Christ Child clutches up at his mother’s veil in an intimate gesture which would become popular in French ivory Virgin and Child groups of the mid to late thirteenth century. Affection between Christ and his Mother was depicted increasingly explicitly in northern Europe in the thirteenth century. In visual terms this probably originated from Byzantine representations, coming via Italy, and reflected trends in devotional practice which increasingly encouraged an intimate relationship with the Virgin as a beloved intercessor between the worshipper and God. Both style and pose thus indicate a possible date in the early thirteenth century, as suggested by T. S. R. Boase, [1] as opposed to the twelfth century date suggested by others. [2]

Given its relatively large size, this particular figure group is likely to have been intended for a church (rather than a domestic setting), where it may either have been the subject of individual devotion, or have adorned an altar, possibly dedicated to the Virgin. It may have been carried in procession on occasion. Many similar figures would have been made in wood for this purpose. Given their material, they were particularly vulnerable and this example is therefore a relatively rare survival.

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