Virgin and Child

Datec. 1400

Artist Currently Unidentified

CultureFrench

MediumChalk in its natural state, with traces of polychromy

DimensionsSight: 25 3/4 x 9 3/8 x 6 1/8 in. (65.41 x 23.81 x 15.56 cm)

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Felix M. Warburg and her children

On View

On view

Period15th c

Classification(s)

Sculpture

BibliographyMundy, James, The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center: Vassar College The History and Collection (New York: Prestel Publishing, 2007), p. 24, p. 25 repr. Holladay, Joan A., and Susan Ward. Gothic Sculpture in America. Vol. III. (New York: International Center of Medieval Art, 2016), The Museums of New York and Pennyslvania. p.60-62, repr. p.61, fig.36. ProvenanceCollections: Felix M. and Frieda Warburg, New York
DescriptionPart of a very important gift to Vassar of a large portion of the collection of New York financier Felix M. Warburg, this splendid example of Late Gothic French chalk carving was thought, until 1945, to be a plaster cast, but then laboratory analysis determined it is an original carved sculpture in chalk of the ‘schöne Madonna’ type. Its workmanship is precise and the folds of the draperies fall in the gentle, rhythmic cascades distinctive of Late Gothic high style. Residual traces of orange pigment on the faces, of red and blue on the Madonna’s garments, and of gilding on her crown point to the certainty that the sculpture was once a brilliant example of French polychrome sculpture. The manner of the figures is courtly, yet the Child is portrayed as playful and beaming. Scholars are of the consensus that the work is the product of a Parisian workshop, and that the stone was quarried in the region around Rouen.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email loebcollections@vassar.edu