Unspecified / about 1620/40
Mourning Virgin from a Crucifixion Group
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Mourning Virgin from a Crucifixion Group as sculpture (about 1620/40).
Looking closely, you can see that the sculptor carved tears under Mary's eyes. They show her pain over Christ hanging on the cross.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this sculpture as pearwood.
The museum's collection notes: This statuette once formed part of a Crucifixion group intended for a domestic shrine or chapel. Such ensembles were not only used for private devotion and meditation, but were also collected as works of art. This work was long attributed to the Nuremberg artist Veit Stoss. In fact, the carver imitated forms from his repertoire. However, the concave folds do not occur before 1600. The sculpture was created at a time when the appreciation for Albrecht Dürer, the most famous German painter of his time, was also experiencing a renaissance.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtMourning Virgin from a Crucifixion GroupOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.