Baroque Polychrome Wooden Virgin with Period Silver Crown, 18th Century

This is an outstanding Italian 18th century carved wood polychromed sculpture of Virgin Mary. The Sculpture is hand painted with some remains of a gold gilt in few places and originated until lately in a private Villa in Tuscany (Italy). The colors are typical red, blue and green are spectacular on this large figure. The Virgin's hands are joined together in a prayer, while standing on a pedestal on the both sides of which are devil's horns (bottom left side horn missing ) symbolising Holly Mary defeating the Evil, protected by the Holly Ghost and an Angel. A story tells the pose of the Virgin Mary sculpture...

18th Century north Spanish polychrome wooden sculpture of the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus.  

Religious sculpture in carved and polychrome wood dating from the early 19th century, depicting the Virgin Mary in a graceful pose expressing gentleness, compassion, and benevolence....

A remarkable carved and polychromed wooden sculpture depicting the Virgin Mary standing in prayer, her hands joined in a gesture of devotion and contemplation. Executed in Italy duri...

18th century Italian hand carved and painted wood Madonna statue depicts the virgin Mary in contemplative prayer, and poised in triumph over evil. Orig...

An 18th Century Baroque Style figure of the Pietà or the Virgin of Mercy, carved in polychrome wood. Our Lady appears seated on the throne with her head covered by a mantle, suppor...

Completely hand-crafted in 18th century Spain, this sculpture of the Virgin Mary of Immaculate Conception stands 1.5 meters / 5 feet tall, is topped by a silver halo / crown, and was most certainly created for devotional purposes, to be displayed in a church or chapel. Besides its impressive size, this sculpture is an excellent, truly museum-quality example of the Spanish “Estofado” polychrome technique, developed during the Gothic period to imitate rich brocade fabrics. The finely carved “fabric” areas of the sculpture would be first covered in gesso, and then a layer of gold leaf would be applied. The gold leaf would then be painted over with various colors of tempera paints. Once dry, the painted surface would be incised or scratched away in patterns, revealing the gold beneath. The sculpture was professionally restored in 2022 by a firm that is often contracted by the Spanish government to work on historic building interiors and museum pieces. The virgin was carefully cleaned, repaired and its condition stabilized. A complete and fully-illustrated restoration report will be included with purchase. Often confused with the virgin birth of Jesus, the belief that the Blessed Virgin Mary herself was conceived “immaculately” without original sin has been variously defended and debated within the Catholic Church since the pre-Middle Ages. For centuries, artists struggled to create an acceptable visual representation of this highly abstract concept, in part taking inspiration from the Book of Revelation and other scriptural sources. In this case, we see the Virgin standing on a half moon (biblically inspired, though also an ancient symbol of chastity) with her long natural hair loose down her back, another indication of purity. Both her white tunic and flowing blue mantle...

A wood sculpture wonderfully carved depiction of the Virgin Mary with Jesus Child gilded with gold leaf and polychrome painted, Spain, mid-18th century...

A most spectacular antique Spanish Colonial figure of Madonna, Mexico circa 19th century possibly earlier. Constructed in plaster with carved and gilt wood accent. Realistic in style...

A Carved and Polychrome-Painted Group of the Virgin and Christ, 18th Century The modelled standing in robes holding the Christ child, on a rockwork base with a seraphim mask to the ...