Gothic Ivories Project | Statuette; so-called 'Davillier Virgin' (Front)

Seated Virgin and Child; Christ seated on the Virgin's left knee; Christ in long robe; Virgin holding a fruit in her right hand; Christ holding a fruit in his left hand; Christ making a blessing gesture with his right hand; crown; bench.

Koechlin 1924: France, end of 3rd quarter of the 13th century.
Gaborit-Chopin 2003 and Museum's opinion 2010: Northern France, 13th century, c. 1240-c. 1250.
Saint-Omer and Paris 2013: Picardy, c. 1240-1250.

Attribution
Unknown

Polychromy - Gilding
Traces of gilding and polychromy (throne, veil, crown, hems, etc.): gilding applied on white undercoat; lapis blue, red glaze, green glaze, matt red seems to be later repainting. Including traces of a pseudo-Kufic inscription along the collar of the Virgin's robe.

Reverse
Carved in the round. Back of the bench curved and smooth.

Object Condition
Ivory cracked. Chips to rear of the Virgin's crown, Virgin's left hand broken but in place, right hand and fingers broken and subsequently reattached in slightly different position, making arm slightly shorter, hand of Christ broken and reattached. Early chips to rear, at base of seat.
Koechlin claimed that the Virgin's left hand is modern.

Provenance
Collection of baron Jean-Charles Davillier (no. 31); bequest of J.-C. Davillier in 1883.

Bibliography
L. Courajod, E. Molinier, Donation du baron Charles Davillier. Catalogue des objets exposés au musée du Louvre (Paris, 1885), no. 31.
E. Molinier, Histoire générale des Arts appliqués à l'Industrie (Paris, 1896), I: Les Ivoires, no. 40.
R. Koechlin, Les Ivoires gothiques français (Paris, 1924), I, pp. 62, 94; II, no. 22; III, pl. X.
Tesoros Medievales del Museo del Louvre, exhibition catalogue, Mexico, Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, 1993, p. 86, no. 32.
D. Gaborit-Chopin, Ivoires médiévaux, Ve-XVe siècle (Paris: Musée du Louvre, 2003), no. 94.
Une renaissance. L'art entre Flandre et Champagne, 1150-1250, exhibition catalogue, Saint-Omer, Musée de l'Hôtel Sandelin, 5 April-30 June 2013 and Paris, Musée de Cluny, 17 April-15 July 2013, no. 133 (M. Gil).
P. Williamson and G. Davies, Medieval Ivory Carvings 1200-1550 (London, 2014), p. 31, in relation to no. 2.

© Réunion des musées nationaux (RMN).
This photograph is copyright protected. Any reproduction or representation of this image is strictly limited to private use. Any other use requires the prior authorisation of the Rmn. Cette photographie est protégée par le droit d'auteur. Sa reproduction ou représentation est strictement réservée à votre usage privé. Toute autre utilisation devra faire l'objet d'une autorisation préalable auprès de la Rmn.

All images on this website are made available exclusively for scholarly and educational purposes and may not be used commercially.