Head of the Virgin with child, anonymous, c. 1470 - c. 1480

Head of the Virgin with child, anonymous, c. 1470 - c. 1480

polychromy, h 15cm × w 12.5cm × d 7cm More details

In the late Middle Ages, modelling with pipe clay (which is white after firing) became a flourishing branch of decorative art in the Low Countries. The inexpensive material and the use of moulds opened the way to large-scale production of sculptures in this medium, which became an affordable alternative to wooden or ivory figurines. This is a fragment of a statue of the Virgin Mary that was hidden in the tower of the Oude Kerk in Soest during the Iconoclastic Fury in 1566.

This work belongs to Head and Back of a Female Saint (Virgin and Child?) (BK-NM-12006-19)