Art History 12

This paper will attempt to give a descriptive analysis and comparison of two medieval sculptures viewed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The first sculpture entitled, “Virgin and Child;” attributed to Claus de Werve, a Netherlandish sculptor by Pierre Quarre a curator and chief of Musees de Djon and a leading authority on Burgundian sculpture. Claus de Werve was commissioned by the Duke and Duchess of the town of Poligny to create this statue for the convent which was headed by a Francisean nun named Colette between 1415-1417. The statue which is made of painted limestone is believed to be a gift that was commissioned for the convent. The second sculpture is entitled, “Mother and Child; Mali” which was created in Mali by the Bomana peoples. The statue of Virgin and Child is a religious humane figure of the Virgin Mother Mary and Jesus as a young boy which is associated with the Catholic Church and Christianity. This sculpture illustrates a mother and son involved in a tender moment. The statue is big in size and its dimensions are 53 x 42 x 28 inches and sits in the center of the Medieval Art exhibit in room 304 of the museum. The Virgin Mary in this sculpture appears very large in size as compared to the child. Her curly brown hair is positioned back away from her face, which is long and cascades down the sides of her face on to her shoulders. The skin of this sculpture resembles those associated with Caucasians with thin lips and long pointed noses. Her complexion or skin color I cannot tell because it is featured in a very dark room of the museum. On top of her head there appears to be a cloak or hood like garment that comes up to the middle of her head. She is wearing a long free flowing gown or dress underneath the cloak while she is sitting on a bench or piece of wood like structure. The child in this sculptured art has short curly brown hair and is wearing loose fitted clothing from that time period while sitting on the lap of the Virgin Mary. He appears