Kneeling Virgin in the Cloisters, Sept. 2007

Kneeling Virgin
Willow, polychromy, and gilding
Attributed to Paolo Aquilano
Italy, Umbro-Abruzzo, Aquila, ca. 1475

Accession # 25.120.217

This sculpture formed part of a Nativity group, or presepio. Its attribution to Paolo Aquilano is based on stylistic affinities with a signed and dated terracotta sculpture in Aquila. Here the undulating planes of the cheeks are so subtly modeled that both the supple flesh and the underlying bone structure are suggested. This characteristic, a hallmark of Renaissance style, is paralleled in contemporary works of other artists in the Abruzzo area (such as Silvestro dell' Aquila, active 1471-1504), as well as in Tuscany, especially Florence (such as Antonio Rossellino 1427-1479, and Andrea del Verrocchio 1435-1488. ) The combination of certain details- the tight belt, the gathered folds of the skirt, the high (shaved?) forehead, and the sophisticated coiffure- are typically Renaissance in contrast to the Late Gothic sculptures in this gallery.

Text from the Cloisters label.