Virgin and Child

Description The Virgin, crowned by two angels, is here portrayed as the "Queen of Heaven," royal mother of God and mediator between heaven and earth. The Child stands on her lap, taking his first step and holding a bird. The leaf once formed half of a devotional diptych, its use in prayer witnessed by the candle burn on the face of the angel at the right.

Exhibitions

• Ivory: The Sumptuous Art. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1983-1984.
• Images of Devotion: Personal Piety in Medieval Manuscripts and Ivories. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1997.

Provenance Octave Homberg, Paris, by purchase; Sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, May 16, 1908, no. 472; Jacques Seligmann, Paris, by purchase; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1912, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, 1908