Here, a rare subject seems to reflect and reinforce fourteenth-century devotional practices encouraging the imitation of Mary, especially among women. Nuns in convents were often given dolls and cradles (one may be seen in the Medieval Sculpture Gallery) designed to help cultivate devotion through enacting a mother's care of the Christ Child and to prompt visionary experiences of personal encounters with him.
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Title:Virgin and Child with Cradle
Date:ca. 1350–1400
Geography:Made in Upper Rhineland, Germany
Culture:German
Medium:Elephant ivory, traces of polychromy
Dimensions:Overall: 12 3/8 x 5 1/16 x 3 3/8 in. (31.5 x 12.8 x 8.5 cm)
Classification:Ivories-Elephant
Credit Line:Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Accession Number:17.190.182
Count Ludwig von Paar, Vienna and Rome (until 1889); his sale, Giacomini & Capobianchi, Palazzo Venezia, Rome (March 20–28, 1889, no. 352); [ Stefano Bardini (Italian), Florence (in 1896)]; Michel Boy, Paris (sold 1905); his postumous sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris (May 15-24, 1905, no. 285); Georges Hoentschel (French)(sold 1906); J. Pierpont Morgan (American), London and New York (1907-1917))
Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux Arts de la Ville de Paris. "Exposition universelle de 1900. L'exposition retrospective de l'art francais," April 14–November 12, 1900.
Bonn, Germany. Kunst-und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. "Krone und Schleier: Kunst aus mittelalterlichen Fraunklöstern," March 18, 2005–July 3, 2005.
New York. Bard Graduate Center: Decorative Arts, Design History, Material Culture. "Salvaging the Past: Georges Hoentschel and French Decorative Arts at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 3, 2013–August 11, 2013.
Frankfurt. Liebieghaus Skulpturen Sammlung. "Heilige Nacht: Die Weihnachtsgeschichte und ihre Bilderwelt," October 12, 2016–January 29, 2017.
Catalogue des objets d'art antique du Moyen-Âge et de la Renaissance de S.E.M. le comte Louis Paar. Rome: Giacomini & Capobianchi, March 20–28, 1889. no. 352, p. 58, pl. VII.
Niffle-Anciaux, Edmond. Les repos de Jésus et les berceaux reliquaires. 2nd ed. Namur: Société Archéologique de Namur, 1896. p. 42, ill. opp. p. 48.
Catalogue officiel illustré de l'exposition retrospective de l'art français des origines à 1800. Exposition universelle de 1900. Paris: Lemercier & Cie., 1900. no. 91, p. 264, ill. p. 12.
Molinier, Emile, ed. Catalogue des Objets d'Art et de Haute Curiosité du Moyen Age et de la Renaissance: Composant la Collection de feu M. Boy. Paris: Galerie Georges Petit, May 15–24, 1905. no. 285, p. 58, ill. unnumbered pl.
Pératé, André. Collections Georges Hoentschel: Ivoires, orfèvrerie religieuse, pierres. Vol. 2. Paris: Librairie Centrale des Beaux-Arts, 1911. no. 26, fig. XXII.
Guide to the Loan Exhibition of the J. Pierpont Morgan Collection. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1914. p. 30.
Koechlin, Raymond. Les Ivoires Gothiques Français: Volume I, Text. Paris: Editions Auguste Picard, 1924. no. 701, p. 247.
Koechlin, Raymond. Les Ivoires Gothiques Français: Volume II, Catalogue. Paris: Editions Auguste Picard, 1924. no. 701, p. 253.
Koechlin, Raymond. Les Ivoires Gothiques Français: Volume III, Plates. Paris: Editions Auguste Picard, 1924. no. 701, pl. CXIII.
Breck, Joseph, and Meyric R. Rogers. The Pierpont Morgan Wing: A Handbook. 2nd ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1929. p. 114.
Forsyth, William H. Medieval Sculptures of the Virgin and Child: A Picture Book. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1939.
Randall Jr., Richard H. Masterpieces of Ivory from the Walters Art Gallery. Walters Art Gallery, 1985. p. 204.
Little, Charles T. "Gothic Ivory Carving in Germany." In Images In Ivory: Precious Objects of the Gothic Age, edited by Peter Barnet. Detroit: Detroit Institute of Arts, 1997. p. 88, fig. VI–12.
Keller, Peter. Die Wiege des Christuskindes: ein Haushaltsgerät in Kunst und Kult. Worms: Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft, 1998. no. B6, p. 220.
Frings, Jutta, and Jan Gerchow, ed. Krone und Schleier: Kunst aus Mittelalterlichen Frauenklöstern. Munich: Hirmer Verlag, 2005. no. 381, p. 455.
Gaborit-Chopin, Danielle, and Jacques Santrot. "Le don Seligman au musée Dobrée: Un ivoire parisien du XIVe siècle." La Revue des Musées de France: Revue du Louvre 61, no. 1 (2011). p. 55 n. 51.
Krohn, Deborah L., Ulrich Leben, and Daniëlle O. Kisluk-Grosheide, ed. Salvaging the Past: Georges Hoentschel and French Decorative Arts from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York and New Haven: Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture, 2013. no. 134, p. 170.
Roller, Stefan, ed. Heilige Nacht: Die Weihnachtsgeschichte und ihre Bilderwelt. Frankfurt am Main: Liebieghaus Skulpturen Sammlung, 2016. no. 41, p. 254.
Roller, Stefan, ed. "Die Weihnachtsgeschichte." In Heilige Nacht: Die Weihnachtsgeschichte und ihre Bilderwelt. Frankfurt am Main: Liebieghaus Skulpturen Sammlung, 2016. pp. 124, 127, 129, fig. 64.
Barnet, Peter. "A Recently Acquired Christ Child at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Sculptures for Medieval Nuns." In A Reservoir of Ideas: Essays in Honour of Paul Williamson, edited by Glyn Davies, and Eleanor Townsend. ohLondon: Paul Holberton Publishing, 2017. p. 213, fig. 7.
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