Virgin and Child

Description This statuette once topped a large candlestick or chandelier. The figure is hollow, and the large opening on its top is a result of the casting process. Smaller holes on the sides of the Virgin's head show that she once wore a crown. Her right hand, separately cast and attached by a pin, originally likely held a scepter or a lily (symbol of Mary's purity). The grapes clasped by the infant Christ allude to the wine of Communion and, thus, to the blood shed by him at Calvary.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
4/15/1955	Treatment	cleaned; examined for exhibition
9/26/1958	Treatment	cleaned
9/05/1974	Treatment	cleaned
10/01/2007	Treatment	cleaned; other
10/23/2007	Examination	examined for condition

Exhibitions

• Realms of Faith: Medieval and Byzantine Art from the Walters Art Museum. Museum of Biblical Art, New York; Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville; Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha. 2008-2009.

Provenance Stefano Bardini, Florence, by purchase; Sale, Christie's, London, June 5, 1899 or May 26, 1902; George Robinson Harding, London [date of acquisition unknown], by purchase; Henry Walters, Baltimore [date of acquisition unknown], by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters