PISANO, Giovanni
(b. ca. 1250, Pisa, d. 1314, Pisa)

Virgin and Child

c. 1298
Ivory, height 53 cm
Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Pisa

This statue was once housed in a tabernacle over an ivory relief and accompanied by two angels.

The ivory Virgin and Child follows the shape of the elephant's tusk, but a rising movement is created by the clusters of folds culminating at the point where the child rests against his mother's bosom. The swaying movement of French Gothic sculpture, learnt either through travels to northern Europe or from portable works of art in Italy, is combined with a more monumental style, crowned by the severe composure of the Virgin's face.




© Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.