Enthroned Virgin and Child (c. 1480): Art, History and Details

Enthroned Virgin and Child (c. 1480) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Gil de Siloé (Spanish, active c. 1475–1505).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The seated Virgin Mary with Christ is one of the most popular themes in Christian art of the Middle Ages. Alabaster was an ideal material to depict the fleshiness of Jesus, the lush folds of Mary’s cloak, and the fine details of the throne and gown. Christ is reaching for something in his mother’s hand that is now unrecognizable because alabaster tends to break or wear away quickly. It may have been a book or a piece of fruit. Given its small size, it is likely that this sculpture was intended for private use.

Object facts

• Title: Enthroned Virgin and Child
• Date: c. 1480
• Creator attribution: Gil de Siloé (Spanish, active c. 1475–1505)
• Culture: Spain, Burgos, 15th century
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: alabaster with traces of gilding and polychromy
• Dimensions: Overall: 31.5 x 22.5 x 16 cm (12 3/8 x 8 7/8 x 6 5/16 in.)
• Collection: MED - Medieval Art
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 2008.145

A detail from the museum

This sculpture was possibly made for Queen Isabella, the Spanish ruler who sponsored Christopher Columbus.

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Fliegel, Stephen. "A Taste for Flemish Art." The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 49, no. 9(November 2009): 6-7.
• Williamson, Paul. The Wyvern Collection: Medieval and Renaissance Sculpture and Metalwork. London: Thames & Hudson, 2018.
• Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.