Lot n° 20
Estimation :
10000 - 15000
EUR
Result without fees
Result
: 25 000EUR
Virgin and Child in carved and polychromed wood. - Lot 20
Virgin and Child in carved and polychromed wood.
Seated on a bench and cushion, Mary presents her
Son seated on her lap. She holds him at her side with her long-fingered hands. Her face is oval, the nose flat, the mouth tightly closed. She wears a round bonnet that covers her temples and ears, but leaves a glimpse of her hair. She is wearing a V-neck dress and pointed shoes. The Child's hairstyle forms a point, falling over the forehead and playing with the arches of the wide-open fine eyes; his nose is triangular. The overall vivid polychromy is reinforced by the contrasting bichromy of the vestments: the green bust of the Virgin is contrasted with the red bust of Christ; the green legs of Christ are contrasted with the red legs of the Virgin.
Italy, Umbria, circa 1200 - 1230
H. 75 cm
(visible worming and missing parts, polychromatic repairs)
Provenance: Former Louis-Pierre Bresset collection, Château de la Rochelambert, Haute-Loire.
Rough at first glance, the plasticity of this Madonna nevertheless reveals a particular gentleness. Preserving the frontal character of the Sedes Sapientae of the Romanesque period, Central Italy developed a new way of showing beauty, free from Byzantine canons. The garment, sculpted in broad flat planes, with only discreet pleats at the bottom of the dress, marks the originality and freedom of the Umbrian sculptors. The grace of this Virgin undoubtedly stems from the "local taste" of central Italy, as Jacqueline Boccador puts it, magnified by the vivid polychromy still present.
Bibliography: J. Liévaux-Boccador, E. Bresset, Statuaire médiévale de collection, Milan, 1972, tome 1, p 140
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