France, Lorraine, vers 1320-1340 Vierge à l'Enfant

Collection privée française, dans la même famille depuis le début du XXe siècle.  

F. Baron (dir.), Les Fastes du Gothique, le siècle de Charles V, cat. exp., Grand Palais, Paris, 1981, p. 66, n° 6; D. Gaborit-Chopin (dir.), L’Art au temps des rois maudits. Philippe le Bel et ses fils, 1285-1328, cat. exp., musée du Louvre, Paris, 1998, p. 121, n° 67; C. T. Little (éd.), Set in stone. The face in Medieval sculpture, cat. exp., Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2006, pp. 94-95, n° 35.

Good condition overall. The surface with some minor surface dirt consistent with age and handling. Numerous remnants of its original polychromy at several places, especially in the folds of the Virgin's drapery, mainly red and blue. The Child's bust is missing. His proper left and right arms are missing, except his right hand clutching the Virgin's veil. The Child's proper left foot is missing whereas his proper right foot is well preserved, with all the toes meticulously carved. The finials of the Virgin's crown are missing and the back of the crown is partly missing as well. The coloured glass cabochons that formerly adorned the crown and the seam of the Virgin's mantle are missing. The Virgin's head appears to have been reattached. The back of the Virgin is also carved with even more important remnants of the original polychromy. Beautiful carving especially in the Virgin's hair, the folds of the drapery and the realistic detail of the belt. A very rare and highly recommendable example of early 14th century French limestone sculpture.
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Cette majestueuse Vierge à l’Enfant s’inscrit dans l’important corpus de la statuaire lorraine du premier tiers du XIVe siècle, à la jonction stylistique entre l’Île-de-France et la Rhénanie. La Vierge de Saint-Dié (église Notre-Dame, Saint-Dié) en fut le premier exemple mis en avant par W. H. Forsyth, point de référence à partir duquel un groupement d’œuvres put être défini. Il se dégage des formes amples du corps des deux Vierges, contrebalancées par la souplesse du déhanché, une impression de délicatesse et de stabilité. Les visages des deux madones présentent d’importantes similitudes, notamment dans le dessin précis de leurs traits et dans la forme des yeux effilés, les paupières supérieures nettement incisées et inférieures légèrement enflées. Les chevelures, où chaque mèche se dessine en courbes et contre-courbes sinueuses, encadrent des visages pleins, plus arrondis en partie inférieure que les modèles d’Île-de-France. Nous pouvons également rapprocher notre Vierge de celle du musée de Cluny (inv. n° Cl.18944). Il est frappant de noter avec quelle application les auteurs de ces trois modèles se sont attachés à retranscrire avec force minutie les moindres détails. Ainsi, le même motif de la ceinture portée haut, le pan de la sangle tombant librement de la boucle, apparaît sur les trois modèles tel un leitmotiv réaliste. L’ampleur des drapés du manteau, descendant de l’épaule droite de la Vierge et s’enroulant autour de sa taille à la manière d’un tablier, le traitement poussé de son dos pourtant peu visible et le geste protecteur de sa main repliée contre la cuisse de l’Enfant le maintenant contre elle, sont autant de signes distinctifs des Vierges dites « courtoises » issues des ateliers lorrains. Des cabochons de verrerie ornaient initialement la couronne de la Vierge et le bord de son manteau, ajoutant au chatoyant de sa polychromie. La main de l’Enfant, agrippée au voile de la Vierge, est un témoignage de l’inflexion maternelle insufflée par l’auteur.

This graceful Virgin and Child is characteristic of the sculpture in the Lorraine area during the first quarter of the 14th century. Thanks to its strategic location, between Île-de-France and the Rhenish Valley, Lorraine is at the stylistic junction of these two major centres. The Virgin of Saint-Dié (Notre-Dame Church, Saint-Dié) was the first example pointed out by W. H. Forsyth, and from which he identified other comparable limestone groups constituting a coherent ensemble of Gothic sculptures and emphazing this influential and prolific area in the east of France. The somewhat solid silhouette of the Virgin is balanced by the suppleness of her contrapposto, and the delicacy of her gesture suggests, at the same time, a feeling of stability and serenity. The faces of the Virgin of Saint-Dié and ours are very similar in shape and features, especially with their almond-shaped eyes, with sharply drawn upper eyelids and the slightly swollen lower lids. The wavy hair is composed of multitude of curved locks framing the round faces of the Virgins, both showing slightly more squared lower jaw than the models from the Île-de-France. Several realistic elements of another Virgin and Child, in the Cluny museum (inv. no. Cl.18944), can be closely compared to the present limestone sculpture, such as the Virgin’s belt fastened high about her waist, and particularly the small and well-designed buckle and the strap falling in front of her belly. Additionally, the drapery of her cloak, which falls down from the Virgin’s proper right shoulder and is wrapped like an apron around her waist, the highly elaborated carving of her back- although it was not intended to be seen – and the protective gesture of her proper left hand clasping the thigh of the Child, are other recurrent features characterising the so-called “courteous” Virgins produced in Lorraine at this time. Stained glass cabochons formerly adorned the crown and the mantle of the Virgin, adding an even more glittering effect to the polychromy.