The image conveyed here is the nurturing role of the Virgin, who is probably intended to personify the Church itself. Her throne (which has lost two of its pinnacles) is an additional symbol of the Church, while the writing Christ child is meant to represent the four Gospels.

This small devotional sculpture reflects the elegant pictorialism found in the more powerful monumental sculpture that flowered in Burgundy under the Netherlandish artists Claus Sluter and his nephew Claus de Werve. The delicate courtly refinement, however, suggests an origin outside Burgundy. A connection with the sculpture of André Beauneveu and the courts at Paris and Berry seem the most likely points of origin for this beautiful sculpture.

Page 3 of 9 | On the next page: The Gotha Missal, c. 1370-72