NANCY WU: If you look at the exterior right side of this sculpture, you will notice that the Virgin is nursing Christ as he sits on her lap. One of the remarkable features of this sculpture is the fact that it opens and closes. It is installed open here to reveal a sculpture of God the Father and scenes painted inside the wings. An image of Christ was likely attached to the hole you see on the cross. And the smaller hole above, in the chest of God, probably held an image of a dove. In other words, the Virgin opened up to reveal the Trinity—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The extraordinarily complex image illustrates the role of the virgin as the vessel of redemption. Curator Peter Barnet:

PETER BARNET: And then to further elaborate this there are painted scenes inside on a gilded surface. We have scenes from the Nativity represented here slightly out of the Biblical sequence because the artist wanted to take advantage of the narrow spaces at the top for the scenes that have only two figures.

NANCY WU: This rare, devotional shrine of the Virgin was once the silent witness to the daily prayers of German nuns in a convent. In this gallery, there are other examples of objects used by nuns or sisters for private devotion; for example, the crib and sculpture of two women with large rock crystals nearby.