Virgin and Child

Description Originally attached to an ambitiously large reliquary casket or altar frontal, this relief shows the Christ Child enthroned in the lap of his mother, the Virgin Mary. Christ, crowned and holding the Gospels, raises his hand in blessing. Mary is crowned and holds an apple, a symbol of the Fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and the reversal of Adam and Eve's actions by Christ who redeemed and reunited humankind with God.

Exhibitions

• Undercover Stories in Art. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1980.

Provenance Henri Daguerre, Paris; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1928, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, 1928