Italian school; 15th century. "Madonna and Child. Carved... Lot 25

Italian school; 15th century. "Madonna and Child. Carved marble. It shows wear and tear caused by time. Measurements: 67 x 20 x 16 cm. Mary is standing, dressed in a long-sleeved tunic over a shirt that shows through the forearms, and only partially covered by a mantle, which, when falling, creates the usual movement in this type of works, made following a style very inspired in the Italian Baroque. With one of her arms she holds the small figure of Jesus, with a tender gaze between them that enhances the emotional quality of the piece. Both the lines of this part and those of the carving show the clear relationship with Italian Renaissance models in the present work. Italy was an important artistic centre in the production of marble devotional figures. Heirs to the classical tradition, they created many works of extreme quality with particularly fine materials. Sculpture reflects perhaps better than other artistic fields this eagerness to return to the classical Greco-Roman world, which exalts in its nudes the individuality of man, creating a new style whose vitality surpasses mere copying. Anatomy, the movement of the figures, compositions with a sense of perspective and balance, the naturalistic play of folds, the classical attitudes of the figures soon began to be valued; but the strong Gothic tradition maintained expressiveness as a vehicle for the profound spiritualist sense that informs our best Renaissance sculptures. This strong and healthy tradition favours the continuity of religious sculpture, which accepts the formal beauty offered by Italian Renaissance art with a sense of balance that avoids its predominance over the immaterial content that animates the forms.