Cleveland Museum of Art

Virgin Nursing the Christ Child

Date

c. 1370

Medium

painted limestone

Culture

France, Île de France

Department

Medieval Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This sculpture of the Virgin Mary nursing the Christ child subtly emphasizes the intimate relationship between mother and child and brings the Son of God in his human existence closer to the viewer. The emotional interaction is characteristic of sculpture since the mid-1300s, especially in the circles close to the court of the French kings in Paris and Emperor Charles IV (reigned 1346–78) in Prague. These novel stylistic tendencies were possibly a reaction to the fear and uncertainty incurred by the first great plague wave in 1348. The back of this sculpture is unfinished since it would have originally been placed against a wall or pier.

The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.