This small polychrome (painted) wooden statue is of the Virgin Mary kneeling at a prie dieu, a piece of furniture that supports the knees and arms during prayer. The light-skinned Mary is dressed in a simple full-length red undergarment with a white collar and over it, an open long blue cape fastened together across her chest by a band of blue fabric. She kneels with her arms bent and her palms together in prayer. A white scarf covers her mid-shoulder length dark hair in the back, but allows plaits of hair to be seen at each side and across her forehead. Her head is held tall, dark eyes open, and lips closed. The dark brown prie dieu functions as the base for this statue. It is a simple reverse L-shape, a flat low platform parallel to the floor upon which she kneels and a vertical mid-thigh high vertical support. Here an open book rests before her.
French
Virgin Annunciate,
late 16th century
Polychromed wood
,
36.8 cm (14 1/2 in.)
Object details
Accession number
S28e19
Primary Creator
French
Full title
Virgin Annunciate
Creation Date
late 16th century
Provenance
Purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner probably from the antique dealer Consiglio Ricchetti, Venice for 100 francs on 12 August 1890.
Dimensions
36.8 cm (14 1/2 in.)
Display Media
Polychromed wood
Web Commentary
Isabella Stewart Gardner kept meticulous records of many of her acquisitions. In keeping with this legacy, object information is continually being reviewed, updated, and enriched in order to give greater access to the collection.
Permanent Gallery Location
Chapel
Bibliography
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 257. (as probably French, late 16th century)
Cornelius C. Vermeule III et al. Sculpture in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1977), p. 177, no. 250. (as probably French, late 16th century)
Rights and reproductions
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Isabella Stewart Gardner kept meticulous records of many of her acquisitions. In keeping with this legacy, object information is continually being reviewed, updated, and enriched in order to give greater access to the collection.