Carved ivory figure of a seated Virgin Mary
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
Unable to open [object Object]: HTTP 0 attempting to load TileSource: https://ids.lib.harvard.edu/ids/iiif/427019509/info.json
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

Carved ivory statuette of the Virgin Mary, who sits with her knees pointed slightly to her left. The ivory is creamy off-white with dark brown staining, especially around the face and hair. Her back is hunched and her head leans forward, her face pointed downward. She wears a long veil over her hair. The veil wraps around her back and over her lap. Her dress is long and flowing, gathering in folds around her knees and feet. Her ruffled bodice is low, revealing the tops of her breasts. Her arms stop just above the elbow.

Gallery Text

In the 14th century, the practice of private devotion was encouraged by Devotio Moderna, a religious movement that arose in present-day Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands. The widely read De Imitatione Christi (The Imitation of Christ), by the German-born Dutch canon Thomas à Kempis, offered instructions for developing a spiritual life anchored on one’s personal relationship with God. Devotional practice was thus no longer confined to the liturgy but was supplemented with private prayer. To facilitate such practice, prayer books, small diptychs, and statuettes of the Virgin and Child and the crucified Christ were frequently produced in various corners of Europe. As private devotion remained a crucial component of Christian spirituality, objects such as the ones displayed here were produced even through the 20th century.

The ivory statuettes displayed here were made in Europe from African elephant tusks.They evince the enduring tradition of using ivory carvings for private devotion that can be traced to the late Middle Ages. Delicate, warm, and soft to the touch, ivory statuettes of the crucified Christ and the Virgin and Child remained coveted objects in the 17th and 18th centuries. Probably made in Spain during the 17th century, the highly detailed statuette of the crucified Christ dramatically presents the figure in a state of intense pain and suffering through the pronounced neck muscles, the deep incisions in his upward directed pupils, and wide open mouth. Designed to evoke a celestial dimension, the fragment of the Virgin would have originally been joined to a figure of the Christ Child on a cloud. Ivory carvings of this motif were adaptations of contemporaneous painting in northern Italy.

[group label: 1983.32, 1922.79]

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1922.79
People
Unidentified Artist
Title
Seated Virgin
Other Titles
Alternate Title: Virgin and Child / Statuette from Val della Locania, near Salerno
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture
Date
17th century
Places
Creation Place: Europe, Italy, Emilia
Culture
Italian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/231580

Location

Location
Level 2, Room 2440, Medieval Art
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Physical Descriptions

Medium
Ivory
Technique
Carved
Dimensions
6 x 3.6 x 1.5 cm (2 3/8 x 1 7/16 x 9/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
L. Melano Rossi, gift; toFogg Art Museum, 1922

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of L. Melano Rossi
Accession Year
1922
Object Number
1922.79
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description

Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 2440 Medieval, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 03/15/2017 - 01/01/2050

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