Mourning Virgin (c. 1250–1275): Art, History and Details

Mourning Virgin (c. 1250–1275) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

These figures of the Virgin and Saint John once formed part of a Crucifixion group that would have originally included a figure of Christ on the cross shown at center. Fortunately the original polychromy of the two figures has been preserved, affording the viewer a rare opportunity to appreciate a rich medieval decorative color pattern suggestive of some early textiles. Though they date to the 13th century, the two figures reflect a late 12th-century style.

Object facts

• Title: Mourning Virgin
• Date: c. 1250–1275
• Culture: Spain, Kingdom of Castile and Leon, 13th century
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: polychromed oak
• Dimensions: Overall: 151.2 x 33 x 21.6 cm (59 1/2 x 13 x 8 1/2 in.)
• Collection: MED - Gothic
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1930.621.2

Collection credit

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Francis F. Prentiss

Further reading listed by the museum

• Whitehill, Walter Muir. n.d. "[Rezension Von:] Cook, Walter William Spencer ; Gudiol, José: Pintura Y Imagineria Románicas. - Madrid: Editorial Plus-Ultra, 1950".
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.

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.