The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 13, 2025

Painted wood carved depicting the Virgin Mary seated with the Christ child centered on her lap, both with light skin tones, lips pressed in a straight line, and eyes looking directly out at us. They wear robes with vertical, parallel curving folds, Mary's covering her head in a hood. The front of their arms and below the bench they sit on has broken away. Most paint worn away, flecks of blue are still visible on Mary's robe.

Virgin and Child in Majesty

c. 1150–1200

France, Auvergne

polychrome wood (walnut)
Overall: 40 x 22 x 24 cm (15 3/4 x 8 11/16 x 9 7/16 in.)
Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2012.52
Location: 106B Romanesque & Gothic Sculpture

Did You Know?

In this sculpture of Mary and Jesus, their heads are detachable.

Description

This sculpture belongs to a group of early representations of the Virgin and Child known as the Sedes Sapientiae (the Throne of Wisdom). The subject embodies a complex and core Christian doctrine of the Virgin’s role in the Incarnation (the moment in which Christ became flesh) and ultimately in the redemption of humankind. Mary faces forward, her gaze toward the beholder. As she is seated on a throne, she in turn becomes the throne to the Christ child, thus symbolizing her role in giving birth not only to the human Jesus, but also to the divine Christ. The Incarnation gave Mary a unique role as principal mediator between heaven and earth, and between God and humankind. As a result, her image proliferated in art, especially after the 12th century, a period in which there was surging interest in Mary’s life and increasing devotion to her person and images. The sculpture belongs to a rare group of surviving figures produced in the Auvergne region of central France during the second half of the 12th century. These "Auvergne" Virgins are estimated to number only about 25 or 30 and are characterized by their linear, calligraphic draperies, which form beautiful swirls and contours. All such sculptures are smaller than life-size and made of wood in order to make them mobile. Evidence suggests that they were moved from altar to altar or church to church, and were frequently carried in procession within churches and town streets on Marian feast days. The heads were intentionally removable in order to "dress" them in costumes for such processions.
  • Collection of Marcel Gimond (1894-1961); Collection of Pierre Lévy, Troyes (1907-2002); Heirs and estate of Pierre Levy (2002-2011); Gallery Brimo de Laroussilhe, Paris (2011-present)
  • Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 53 no. 02, March/April 2013 Mentioned & reproduced: p. 20 archive.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 266
    Riordan, Michelle. Muire na mbard: Móradh na Maighdine. Baile Átha Cliath: Foilseacháin Ábhair Spioradálta, 2016. Reproduced: p. 9 (a)
  • {{cite web|title=Virgin and Child in Majesty|url=false|author=|year=c. 1150–1200|access-date=13 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2012.52