This Catalan image of the Virgin and Child was carved from limestone in the middle of the fourteenth century, and still bears traces of polychromy and gilding. The infant Christ holds a book with both hands, and points us to the words visible on the open pages: ‘VERBO/CARO’ (left page); ‘FACTUM/EST.ET/ABIT/UIT M/’ (right page). Standing at just under life-size (132.7 cm tall), this statue offers a strikingly elegant exposition of John’s words, especially the end of the verse: through the Incarnation, Mary brought Christ ‘among us’.

Metropolitan Museum of Art; bequest of George Blumenthal, 1941
Accession Number: 41.190.282
Image: Metropolitan Museum of Art