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Dramatic silver sculpture of a standing woman in flowing robes holding a baby with radiating lines encircling them.

The young woman (Virgin Mary) stands upon a gold-colored crescent that’s pointed up; her body faces the viewer as her crowned head turns right. She holds a rod in her right hand and the seated baby (Christ Child) in her left arm. The haloed Child holds out a gold-colored sphere with cross on top toward the right and looks toward the viewer. The crescent is attached to a reflective sphere atop a dark wooden pillar-shaped base that's adorned with decorative silver accents. Four small robed winged figures stand at each corner of the pillar below the Madonna and Child.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
BR64.31
People
Unidentified Artist
Title
Virgin in Glory
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture
Date
c. 1600
Places
Creation Place: Europe, Germany, South Germany
Culture
German
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/220019

Location

Location
Level 2, Room 2340, European and American Art, 17th–19th century, The Silver Cabinet: Art and Ritual, 1600–1850
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Physical Descriptions

Medium
Silver, parcel-gilt, and wood
Dimensions
35.2 x 15.3 cm (13 7/8 x 6 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • maker's mark: lower part of Madonna's robe: "H" (??)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum, Antonia Paepcke DuBrul Fund
Accession Year
1964
Object Number
BR64.31
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Charles L. Kuhn, German and Netherlandish Sculpture, 1280-1800, the Harvard Collections, Harvard University Press (Cambridge, MA, 1965), p. 24, cat. no. 51 pp. 96-97, repr. as pls. XLII and XLIII
  • Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings from the Fogg Art Museum, exh. cat., Albright-Knox Art Gallery (Buffalo, NY, 1967), cat. 40
  • Anneliese Harding, German Sculpture in New England Museums, Goethe Institute (Boston, MA, 1972), repr. p. 56 as figs. 89-90
  • Peter Nisbet and Joseph Koerner, The Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, ed. Peter Nisbet, Harvard University Art Museums and Scala Publishers Ltd. (Cambridge, MA and London, England, 2007), p. 220

Exhibition History

  • Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings from the Fogg Art Museum, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 05/08/1967 - 06/11/1967
  • Hot Dry Men, Cold Wet Women, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, 09/13/1997 - 11/02/1997; Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, 11/20/1997 - 02/06/1998; John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, 02/27/1998 - 04/24/1998
  • Objects for a Kunstkammer: Early European Collecting, 1550-1700, Harvard University Art Museums, Busch-Reisinger Museum, 12/10/2005 - 11/19/2006
  • 32Q: 2340 Cabinet Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 09/24/2019; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/25/2019 - 03/01/2025

Subjects and Contexts

  • Google Art Project

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu