Art Institute of Chicago

Virgin and Child

Attributed to Giovanni di Fondulis (Italian, active 1468–91)

Date

c. 1485

Medium

Pigmented terracotta

Culture

Central Italy

Department

Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Although frequently described as a humble and austere medium, clay was perennially popular during the Italian Renaissance and could be modeled with notable sophistication. Clay was especially acceptable for finished works of art made in areas where marble or bronze was prohibitively expensive. Once completed, this sculpture was sliced with fine wire into at least four sections, and extremities like the Virgin’s head and hands and the Christ Child were fired separately. After firing, these elements were reassembled and painted. The Virgin and Child appears to be the work of an artist trained in Tuscany with some knowledge of the sculpture of Donatello and his partner Michelozzo.

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