Madonna and Child

Abstract

This painted terracotta sculpture (Oratorio di San Sebastiano, Florence) is one of many half-length terracotta reliefs of the Madonna and Child, often used for domestic devotion and then later donated to churches or oratories. These works could be made using molds and then individually painted. This particular composition, with the mother and child in a tight embrace, was the most popular, and survives in many replicas. The particularly splendid version in the Museo Bandini, Fiesole, seems to be the original, based on connoisseurship and technical evidence. Pedone notes that the painted surface may be modern. The Virgin and Child were given crowns to wear at some point, but these were removed in the 1968 restoration. The terracotta figures are set against a painted and gilded wooden ground. (It is unclear when this was added to the work.) Photograph(s) licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.