Virgin And Child In Marble - Italy - 16th Century

This marble sculpture, dating from the 16th century, represents a Virgin and Child from southern Italy. The Virgin presents a calm and gentle face, her wide eyes seeming to scrutinize the viewer. Her long hair falls delicately down her back. She is dressed in a belted dress, the folds of which are elegantly held on her arm. The fallout from the garment forms pretty antique folds, covering her feet. The Virgin holds the Child Jesus in her left hand and, in her right, a scepter surmounted by a fleur-de-lis. Christ is shown as a chubby child with curly hair, looking slightly to his right. His right hand is raised in a sign of blessing (i.e. the thumb, index and middle fingers are raised). In his left hand he holds an orb surmounted by a cross. These two figures have a flat top of the head, with a hole in the center, showing traces of the presence of removable crowns. It then appears that this sculpture incorporates numerous symbols associated with power and royalty, such as the crown, the scepter, the crucigerous orb and the gesture made by the Child, which we find on the Sticks of Justice. The scepter held by the Virgin Mary in one of her hands is a secular symbol of royal power. The fleur-de-lis, at the end of the scepter, was, in Frankish times, a symbol of fertility. Since here it is the Virgin who holds it, the scepter has a double symbol: royalty and the virginal motherhood of the Virgin. The king often had, in addition to the orb and the fleur-de-lis scepter, a hand of justice. This stick with a hand at the end makes exactly the gesture made by the child Jesus. Thus, this supports the fact that the king dispenses justice according to what is dictated to him by the higher power. The child sits against his mother's arm, he is all flesh and only dressed in a piece of fabric which covers his lower body. His face seems peaceful, he has cheeks that stand out and emphasizes his childish side. The crucigerous orb, which he holds in his left hand, is a symbol of authority used since the Middle Ages in Western religious iconography. Among Christians, the globe represents Christ's temporal and spiritual domination over the world. From the 15th century, this topos took the name “Salvator Mundi”, that is to say the savior of the world. However, among kings, the globe will symbolize the earth and therefore show the sovereign's global domination, as for the cross, it will be there to confirm his Christian faith, as well as that his power comes from God. As can be seen in the coins minted in the Byzantine Empire. The orb therefore stands out as a component of the symbols of imperial and royal power, just like the scepter and the hand of justice. We then find ourselves in the presence of a work placing great emphasis on the royal nature of Christ. Shown as a true sovereign, the Child, still carried by his mother, will reign over his faithful, as Christ the King.