Virgin and Child

This relief was cast from a mould of an original, attributed to the great Florentine sculptor and goldsmith Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378–1455). In Renaissance Florence, the market for multiples in stucco (a plaster-like material) was driven by intense devotion to the Virgin Mary. Signs of wear on this relief indicate it was placed outside, most likely on the facade of a private home. Originally, the shields were painted with coats of arms, probably of a husband and wife. On the base, faint traces of the original inscription in Latin, AVE MARIA (‘Hail Mary’), are noticeable.
This devotional relief of the Virgin and Child was probably made for a street tabernacle, and the weathering on its surface is consistent with it having been placed outside. Much of the remaining paint however is original. The work is thought to be based on a painted stucco relief by the celebrated Florentine sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti. Although many versions of this original group were made, testifying to its popularity at the time and since, Ghiberti’s work itself has not survived.

Lee Bequest 1947