A MID 14TH CENTURY FRENCH POLYCHROME, GILDED AND CARVED LIMESTONE GROUP OF THE VIRGIN AND CHILD, PROBABLY ILE-DE-FRANCE
the standing figure holding the Christ Child in her left hand, on an integral base, carved with a flat back,
66cm high

This mid 14th century sculpture is of very similar form to a monumental polychrome limestone Virgin and Child in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Cloisters Collection, no. 37.159). Her shallow crown which has traces of the original cabochons over tightly curled hair and a veil, her mantel and the arrangement of the folds of drapery, her pointed shoe peeking from beneath her mantel are all comparable to the Metropolitan Museum example. Features such as the extremely finely carved right hand and the geometrically arranged drapery which falls in complex folds over her wrist, her left hand supporting the Christ Child who holds an orb and her serene expression are all typical characteristics of the sculpture produced between 1340 and 1350 in Paris. The Metropolitan Museum example retains much of the original polychrome and gilded decoration, and appears much the same as it would have done during the 14th century. The present sculpture also retains some original polychome and gilding to the hair and crown and the edges of the drapery which are also gilded in the museum example.