Virgin and Child

mid-12th century

The Virgin and Child originally were shown full length, seated on a throne. This sculpture may have contained a relic concealed in the back of the Virgin's head. It is obviously very damaged, but the many stages of retouching suggest reverent, if not professional, care.

Wood with polychromy

22 1/2 x 12 3/4 x 8 3/4 in. (57.15 x 32.39 x 22.23 cm)

Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection

63.49

Provenance: [Heeramaneck Galleries, New York, by 1954 - 1963]; purchased from gallery by Seattle Art Museum (Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection), February 2, 1963

Now on view at the Seattle Art Museum

Resources

Exhibition HistoryHouston, Texas, Museum of Fine Arts of Houston, "House of Art," 1954

Published ReferencesGesta International Center of Medieval Art, Volume XIX/1, 1980 p. 64-66

Martin, Renee. "SAM 63.46: A Polychromed Wood Fragment of the Virgin Mary and Christ Child," Art History 400: Sculpture Media (Winter 1997), p. 1-21.

Museum of Fine Arts of Houston. "House of Art" exhibition catalogue. Houston: Museum of Fine Arts of Houston, 1954, no. 88, illus. (lent by Heeramaneck Galleries, New York)

Porter, A. Kingsley. "Spanish Romanesque Scupture (Volume II)", Pantheon Casa Editrice, Firenze, illus no. 76.

"Romanesque Sculpture in American Collections: The New England Museums." New York: Burt Franklin & Co., Inc., 1979.

SAM Engagement book, 1965, pp. Dec 19-25

Vandersall, Amy L. "Romanesque Sculpture in American Collections. XIX. The West," in Gesta, Vol. 19 No.1 (1980), p. 51-66, illus no. 16.

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