Spanish school of the late 15th century.

Spanish school of the late 15th century.
"Virgin and Child".
Alabaster sculpture.
Measurements: 46 x 32 x 17 cm.

Devotional sculpture in alabaster, of late Gothic style with pre-renaissance pervivencias, belonging to the Hispanic tradition of Marian images of round bulk destined to the private devotion or to the domestic oratory.

The Virgin is represented seated, with a slender waist and delicate neck, with an oval face and soft features: straight nose, almond-shaped eyes and an expression of melancholic tenderness. Her wavy hair, meticulously chiseled, frames her face and falls over her shoulders. The Child Jesus, already of a certain age, stands on a small footstool or low table, establishing an intimate dialogue of glances with his mother.

The Virgin's mantle, very wide, forms broken and angular folds that rest on the lap and spill to the floor, while the inner tunic is tight to the body, marking vertical pleats that accentuate the verticality and rhythm of the whole. This contrast between the broken mantle and the smooth tunic generates a chiaroscuro effect that enlivens the alabaster surface. Under the edge of the mantle, one of the bare feet of the Virgin appears, a detail that reinforces the incipient naturalism typical of the turn of the century.

The treatment of the hair -in fine and defined locks on both the Virgin and the Child- evidences the meticulous attention to the chiseling and the quality of the carving. On the back of the chair or Marian throne there are three-lobed niches, a Gothic decorative motif that alludes to religious architecture and reinforces the sacred character of the composition.

The work is part of the Castilian and Aragonese Marian sculpture of the late 15th century, in which the international Gothic language persists, softened by a more humanized and naturalistic sensibility, typical of the workshops active during the transition to the Renaissance.