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A French painted limestone group of the virgin and child, late 14th century, Normandy, probably from region of Laval (Mayenne)
Description
Provenance
Cleveland Museum of Art, until 1999
Literature
Forsyth, William H., “The Virgin and Child in French Fourteenth Century Sculpture: A Method of Classification,” The Art Bulletin 39.3 (September 1957), 179, note 49.
Béranger-Menand, Brigitte. Statuaire médiévale en Normandie occidentale: la Vierge à l’enfant XIIIe-XVIe siècle, 2 vols, Saint-Lô, Archives deìpartementales de la Manche, 2004.
RELATED LITERATURE
Forsyth, William H. “A Medieval Statue of the Virgin and Child,” The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 3.3 (November 1944), 84-88.
Catalogue Note
According to the early Church fathers, Mary gave her girdle to Saint Thomas as she ascended to heaven. The belt was venerated as a relic of Mary; legend established that it was taken by a pilgrim from Jerusalem to the cathedral in Prato, Italy in 1141. The cult of the sacra cintola, or holy belt, was popular in Italy, particularly in Tuscany, throughout the middle ages, and spread to neighboring France. Many abbeys and churches in Normandy claimed to own pieces of the sacra cintola, and the sculptures of 🍎the Virgin and Child with the belt must be♉ seen as testimonies to the power of this cult in the fourteenth century.
The rose and the girdle also have symbolic meaning. The rose is a symbol of Mary’s sinlessness – she is the rose without thorns. The girdle, an item worn by young brides on their wedding day, may refer to her role as the sponsa Christi, o🃏r bride of Christ. Mary’s special status as both the🔴 virgin mother and bride of Christ thus allows her to intercede on behalf of the faithful with Christ.
The iconography of the “Madonna of the belt” in France was based on the Italian model, yet this sculpture also displays a specifically French style in the swaying posture of the Virgin, th♎e tubular folds of her garment, and her gentle expression. This sculpture is one of a group of statues with similar iconography localized in southwest Normandy, suggesting that these works were🌄 based on a common prototype.