UNKNOWN MASTER, Italian
(active c. 1210)

Enthroned Madonna and Child

c. 1210
Wood, painted with inset semiprecious stones, height 112 cm
Museo di Palazzo Venezia, Rome

In the early Middle Ages there arose one of the most widely used sculptural forms of the Romanesque period: the enthroned Madonna and Child. It is often compared to the icons in Byzantine art because there is a strict hieratic quality to its frontality. Even the child who either sits or stands in front of Mary, emphasizes this moment of severity which did not begin to disappear until around 1200, with the increasing depiction of Mary turning towards the child.

This Italian example comes from Acuto.