NARRATOR #2 (JANNIE WOLF): This superb ivory statuette of the Virgin and Child was most likely produced in England. It might even have been commissioned by the court of King Edward the First at Westminster. The piece has suffered significant losses, including the Virgin's arms, her throne, and all of the Child, except for vestigial feet. Even so, it retains an elegance and a sense of monumentality despite its actual size. The hole in the Virgin's chest would once have contained an inset jewel or crystal-covered relic, and the statuette would have been enclosed within an ivory or perhaps silver tabernacle. The rich reddish-brown patina may be the result of staining with walnut oil or some other agent. Peter Barnet, Curator in charge of the Department of Medieval Art and the Cloisters. PETER BARNET: This is probably due to either exposure to heat or perhaps even exposure to fire; it’s also possible that an oil such as walnut oil was at one point rubbed into the surface of the ivory to give it a kind of luster or color, in fact even in medieval craftsman’s treatises there is the recommendation that this be done, and it’s possible that that accounts for the color of the ivory we see here although this brown color is quite unusual for medieval ivories.

NARRATOR #2: This Virgin and Child was made for personal devotion, and was intended to give its owners a feeling of personal connection with the Virgin. It was also intended to emphasize the reciprocal tenderness between the Virgin and Child. Look closely at the way the Virgin turns to face the Child climbing over her knee.