Virgin in Majesty
Unknown · c. 1150
The Virgin sits rigidly upright on a throne, facing straight ahead, with the Christ Child seated on her knee. Mary is less a mother here than a living throne for her son, who has the solemnity of a small adult. Romanesque Auvergne produced many such figures, called Virgins in Majesty or Thrones of Wisdom, and this one keeps the frontal pose, the tubular folds of the veil and gown and the large calm eyes of the type. Traces of paint survive, and small marks show where metal plaques once covered parts of the surface, so that the statue originally gleamed with colour and metal rather than bare wood.
The statue is made of walnut in three pieces: the heads of the Virgin and the Child were carved separately and can still be moved. A cavity was hollowed out at a later date, perhaps to hold relics. According to the seller the figure came from the Forez region, west of Lyon. It belonged to the Paris collector Bernard Louis Celestin Montaut and was bought by the Louvre in 1894, one of the earliest Romanesque wooden Madonnas to enter the museum.
Did You Know? The heads of the Virgin and the Child were carved as separate pieces and are still movable.
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