As I was visiting the National Museum of Ancient Art I found myself looking at different representations of the same religious figures, as well as trying to analyse the details and the equally different sculpting styles. Some of the information did provide additional insight regarding the workshops they were sculpted in, though the rest was left to our personal taste and feeling towards the specific represented figures.
Mary being instructed by St. Anne - 15th century polychromed alabastar - Nottingham, England.
St. Anne and the Virgin - 1350 tempera on wooden panel - Ramons Destorrents, Arnau and Ferrer Bassa.
1301 -1350 polychromed and gilded poplar wood sculpture representing the Virgin with the Child - Portuguese workshop (left). 1325 polychromed limestone sculpture depicting the Virgin Mary holding a rose in her right hand (right).
It is believed to follow the artistic sculpting approach displayed in the tombs, for which Master Pero, to whom it is attributed was well known for, together with having renewed the sculpting approach in Portugal.
1460 polychromed limestone sculpture representing the Nursing Virgin - attributed to João Afonso.
1450-1475 polychromed limstone representingt the Virgin with the Child - attributed to the Master sculptor Gil Eanes from the workshop of Coimbra.
This is considered a sophisticated and rather elegant version of the iconography of the Nursing Virgin which became deeply embedded in the spiritual approach of the Portuguese from the Middle Ages onwards.
1325-1350 polychromed limestone sculpture representing the Virgin with the Child - attributed to Master Pero.
The crowned Virgin Mary with Jesus depicted as a child playing with a bird very much follows the French sculpting approach in regards to the relationship between the two represented figures
1325-1350 polychromed and gilded limestone sculpture representing the Virgin with the Child - French workshop located in Portugal.
The sculpture depicting child Jesus holding a bird is believed to follow the traditional sculpting approach of Île de France, as developped in the first half ot he 14th century.
1480 polychromed limestone sculpture representing the Virgin and the Child - Attributed to Diogo Pires-o-Velho.
This rather unusual type of devotional sculpture is associated to the cult of Our Lady of the Rosary, as well as the one of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception due to the inclusion of the lunar crescent at its base. The rosary is represented by the crown of 24 roses, including the one presented by the Virgin herself.
1475-1500 polychromed limestone sculpture representing the Virgin Mary - Estremadura workshop. In this sculpture Mary is represented as the queen of the Heavens. In it we can identify the traditional Portuguese Medieval sculpting approach.
1460 polychromed limestone sculpture representing the Virgin with the Child - Attributed to master João Afonso.
This representation with the Child Jesus writing on his Mother's lap is a Gothic interpretation of the Romanesque images of the Virgin at the Throne of Wisdom. Mary is represented in the role of the first teacher of Jesus who is seen writing the word salvation on a part of her parchment. The pomegranate the Virgin is holding in her right hand celebrates the unity of the Church, as the fruit's seeds, together with the obtained salvation through the blood of Christ symbolised by the red colour.
(To be continued)
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