ARNOLFO DI CAMBIO
(b. ca. 1245, Colle di Valdelse, d. ca. 1310, Firenze)

Virgin Enthroned

c. 1270
Marble, height 79 cm
Staatliche Museen, Berlin

The sculpture shows the Virgin seated on a narrow, profiled bench as Queen of Heaven with a head veil and crown. The smoothly polished area on her left thigh refers to the lost figure of Christ.

The elegiac facial expression and the contrast of the sharp-edged, parallel pleat style on the dress, which makes the body appear rigid, with the elegant, flowing lines of movement of the coat hem and the head veil suggest the attribution to Arnolfo di Cambio.

The statue probably originates from the Assumption Chapel in Pisa Cathedral.