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Virgin and Child
Tilman Riemenschneider (German, 1460–1531)
German
Medieval (Gothic)
about 1490–95
Object Place: Europe, Wurzburg, Germany
Medium/Technique
Limewood
Dimensions
120.7 x 38.1 x 20.2 cm (47 1/2 x 15 x 7 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift in memory of Felix M. Warburg by his wife Frieda Schiff Warburg
Accession Number41.653
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsSculpture
This Virgin wears a crown and stands upon a crescent moon, which associates her with the Woman of the Apocalypse from the Bible's Book of Revelation. Riemenschneider presents the figures with great simplicity and humanity-the Virgin seems slightly melancholy and the Christ Child about to smile. Particularly touching is the way the Virgin holds one of her son's feet while he clasps the other.
Description
ProvenanceFelix M. Warburg (b. 1871 - d. 1937), New York; by inheritance to his widow, Frieda Schiff Warburg (b. 1876 - d. 1958), New York; 1941, gift of Frieda Schiff Warburg to the MFA. (Accession Date: September 11, 1941)