Virgin And Child, Franco-catalan Sculptor 13th-14th Century

Virgin and Child

Franco-Spanish sculptor from the Catalan/Pyrenean area
Late Middle Ages, 13th-14th century

Carved oak, flat back

Height: 67 cm

Fascinating and rare wooden sculpture depicting the full-length Virgin holding the Child with her left arm, the work of a Franco-Hispanic artist, presumably active in the Catalan/Pyrenean area between the 13th and 14th centuries (1200/1300).

This is an important testimony of Medieval sculptural art, with its preciousness and historical merits, and which, despite its evident simplicity of execution, exudes an incredible strength and refined stylistic purity.

We are precisely in the Late Middle Ages, a period of profound artistic evolution that, passing through the important lesson of Romanesque art, would evolve over the following centuries, culminating in the artistic splendour of the Renaissance.

Sculpture, while retaining some characteristics still belonging to the habits of the previous century, developed new formal solutions, and the primitive stylistic rigour of Romanesque art here saw a metamorphosis to the novelties of Gothic art, which we can recognise, for example, in the soft and natural draping of the Virgin's robes.

Consequently, while Mary still partly maintains a hieratic posture, her son appears more dynamic, especially in the positioning of his hands, one of which extends towards the other as if for an embrace, and his head turned slightly towards his mother.

The wooden essence of the sculpture is oak, with a texture that is still solid and compact, although there are some small faults and wear dictated by time.