Virgin & Child Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Oct. 2007

Virgin and Child
ca. 1200


Object Details

Date: ca. 1200

Geography: Made in Limoges, France

Culture: French

Medium: Copper: formed, repoussé, engraved, chased, scraped, and gilt; hands cast; champlevé enamel: dark, medium, and light blue; turquoise, green, yellow, red, and white; glass cabochons; wood core

Dimensions: Overall: 14 3/16 x 4 13/16 x 4 5/8 in. (36 x 12.3 x 11.7 cm)

Classification: Enamels-Champlevé

Credit Line: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917

Accession Number: 17.190.125a, b


The enameled book and the engraving of the Virgin’s crown and slippers and of the Child’s hair are characteristic of Limoges work. Enamels of the type for which Limoges was famous are often preserved in Spain, and, indeed, this work belonged to a Spanish collector in the late nineteenth century. In Spain, neither political revolution nor religious reformation provoked the mass destruction of church property that France experienced.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/464006