French, Champagne, 16th century

Leroy recorded several limestone statues of the Virgin and Child, which demonstrate a clear stylistic tradition and iconography of Virgin and Child sculptures originating from 16th-century Champagne, which is entirely consistent with the present statue.

This limestone sculpture is a particularly fine example with well delineated details and elegant proportions. The Virgin has a typical almond-shaped face with small eyes and mouth. Her drapery is heavy, ending in soft folds with a pearled edge and with wide open sleeves. She wears a crown that is inset with fictive stones and comprises fleur-de-lys motifs, which compares to the Virgin and Child in the Church of Saint Laurent in Mesnil-la-Comtesse (op. cit. p.78). The Christ Child holds a bunch of grapes, which parallels a Virgin and Child in the Church of Saint Martin in Romilly-sur-Seine (op. cit. p.81). Her hair is long and curls away from her face, which is consistent with a large Virgin and Child sculpture in the Church of Saint Marcel, Chauffour-les-Bailly (op. cit.).

RELATED LITERATURE

P.E. Leroy, Sculptures en Champagne au XVIe siècle, Dijon, 2009, pp. 78-83