The energetic pose of Mary, peering over the shoulder of the Christ Child at an exaggerated angle, suggests that this sculpture was once part of a larger story: most likely a depiction of the Adoration of the Magi, or the Three Kings bringing gifts from afar. The delicate facial features, thickly curling hair, and frilly draperies are typical of courtly art made in fourteenth-century Bohemia, when Prague was a center of power for the Holy Roman Empire.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Enthroned Virgin and Child
Date:ca. 1345–1350
Geography:Made in Prague
Culture:Bohemian
Medium:Limewood with paint and gilding
Dimensions:29 5/8 in. × 11 3/4 in. × 8 in. (75.2 × 29.8 × 20.3 cm)
Classification:Sculpture-Wood
Credit Line:The Cloisters Collection, 1965
Accession Number:65.215.1
Said to have come from the Convent of Saint Ursula, Vienna; [ Hermann and Maria Schwartz, Mönchengladbach-Hardt (sold 1965)]
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Patterns of Collecting: Selected Acquisitions, 1965–1975," December 6, 1975–March 23, 1976.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Prague, The Crown of Bohemia 1347-1437," September 19, 2005–January 3, 2006.
Prague Castle. "Charles IV, Emperor through the Grace of God: Culture and Art in the Time of the Last Luxembourgs, 1347–1437," February 16–May 21, 2006.
Prague, Czech Republic. Picture Gallery, Prague Castle. "Karel IV., císař boží milosti: kultura a umění za vlády posledních lucemburků 1347-1437," February 16, 2006–May 21, 2006.
Raggio, Olga, ed. "Medieval Art and the Cloisters." Notable Acquisitions (Metropolitan Museum of Art) no. 1965/1975 (1975). p. 149.
Shepard, Mary B. Europe in the Middle Ages, edited by Charles T. Little, and Timothy B. Husband. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1987. p. 121, pl. 112.
Boehm, Barbara Drake, and Jiri Fajt, ed. Prague: The Crown of Bohemia, 1347–1437. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005. no. 4, pp. 134–35.
Fajt, Jiri, and Barbara Drake Boehm, ed. Karel IV., Císař Boží Milosti: Kultura a Umění za Vlády Posledních Lucemburků 1347–1437 (Charles IV, Emperor by the Grace of God: Culture and Art in the Reign of the Last of the Luxembourgs 1347–1437). Prague: Prague Castle Administration, 2006. no. 5.3, p. 45.
Fajt, Jiri, and Barbara Drake Boehm, ed. Karl IV., Kaiser von Gottes Gnaden: Kunst und Repräsentation des Hauses Luxemburg 1310-1437. Munich: Deutscher Kunstverlag, 2006. no. 106, pp. 90, 300–301.
Fajt, Jiri, and Markus Hörsch, ed. Kaiser Karl IV., 1316–2016: Erste Bayerisch-Tschechische Landesausstellung. Ausstellungskatalog. K*700. Prague: Národní Galerie v Praze, 2016. p. 488.
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