Virgin and child in carved and polychrome wood, 17th century

Charming Virgin and Child in polychrome walnut and carved in the round from the 17th century.
Slightly swaying, the Virgin is standing, dressed in a dress and an ample coat-veil falling in a cascade of deep and hectic folds on the front and on the sides. Her long hair with soft curls falls elegantly over her shoulders.
Mary carries on her left arm the baby Jesus, quite naked and chubby. This one supports the terrestrial globe with one hand, while with the other hand he tries to catch the apple that his mother offers him.
Her chubby, smiling face is surrounded by charming little curls.
We will notice the softness of Marie's face, which outlines a smile in which appears all the tenderness and pride of a mother towards her child.

Dimensions
H.61 cm x W.25 cm x D. 18 cm

France
Walnut
17th century
Resumption in polychromy

Apple symbolism:
The apple, held in the hand of Adam, is a symbol of knowledge, immortality, temptation, the fall of man. But when Jesus is depicted holding an apple, he represents the second Adam who brings salvation by taking upon himself human sin.
This difference illustrates the evolution of the symbol in Christianity. In the Old Testament, the apple embodied the fall of man; in the New Testament, she is the emblem of redemption from this fall.