At the Cloisters

Standing Virgin and Child
Attributed to Nikolaus Gerhaert von Leiden
(North Netherlandish, active in Strasbourg, 1460–1473)
Date: ca. 1470
Medium: Boxwood, tinted lips and eyes
Dimensions: 13 1/4 x 5 1/8 x 3 9/16 in.

Above is a photo I took of The Standing Virgin at the Cloisters Medieval Gallery in New York. She is enclosed in glass. I wasn't aware that I couldn't use my flash. The museum staff were quick to point that out to me, upon seeing the sudden flash of light. I apologized - I really don't want to participate in the destruction of these beautiful pieces. The damage was done, but I got the lovely photo above, with the light glowing on the faces of Mary and Jesus, and on the folds of Mary's robe. The stained glass window on the left, part of the collection in the Treasury, is reflected in the glass on the right.

Although it isn't that unusual to see a depiction of the Madonna and child in stained glass windows, it is still a little bit of a coincidence that the image in the glass behind The Standing Virgin also depicts the Madonna and Child. I instinctively included the whole of the stained glass background, although most photos I find of this sculpture crop off the background (as I show in the collage below - one even obstructs a stained glass with the sculpture). For example, this could have been a perfectly acceptable version, which focuses almost entirely on the sculpture (I cropped the image in photoshop, not in camera):


The stained glass is:


Virgin of the Apocalypse
Circle of the Master of the Amsterdam Cabinet (active 1470-90)

Date: ca. 1480–90
Geography: Made in, Middle Rhine, Germany
Culture: German
Medium: Colorless glass, silver stain, and vitreous paint
Dimensions: 13 7/8 x 9 5/8in.

The imagery depicted on this panel derives from the Book of Revelation, which describes "a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars" (12:1). The Virgin standing on a crescent moon, surrounded by rays of light, is a specific iconographic type, of German origin, which became popular by the middle of the fifteenth century. Encircled by the rays of perfect light, the Virgin, Queen of Heaven, outshines the transitory and evanescent nature of all other realms, just as the sun dissipates the light of the moon.

The softness and delicacy of the figures, as well as the unmannered, free use of line, place this panel in the immediate circle of the Master of the Amsterdam Cabinet, arguably the greatest graphic artist active in northern Europe before Albrecht Dürer. [Source: Metropolitan Museum]

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I've written about the external beauty of the Cloisters here and here, but the Cloisters also house an expansive, and beautiful, collection of medieval art. The Standing Virgin is in the newly re-opened Treasury, which is:

an intimate gallery displaying some of the most precious small-scale works at The Cloisters, the branch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art dedicated to the art and architecture of the Middle Ages – has reopened to the public after two years of renovation. Originally constructed in 1988 in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the opening of The Cloisters, the Treasury houses small luxury objects acquired in the years subsequent to the branch museum's 1938 founding. [More on the Treasury here]

It was The Standing Virgin that caught my attention. I was taken in by the intricate carvings of her robe, her expression which is a mixture of alarm (she sees something in front of her) and expectancy, and her playful infant with his chubby cheeks and legs. Yet, this is clearly Jesus, who is blessing us. The guide who took us around said that the sideways view is as important (if not more important) than the view from the front, since Mary is holding her child sightly forward, so that his two-finger blessing is clearly visible from the side, and he is slightly ahead of Mary, making him more important then her. I found the back view also important, but in an artistic sense. The carver has not cut any corners with the back, giving us a detailed carving of her long locks, Jesus' curly hair, and the shawl on Mary's head which is draped forward leading us to Jesus' hand which is holding it at the front.

The Standing Virgin, images acquired from
various sources around the web.

In the bottom right of the collage is a reliquary arm.

Here's what the Metropolitan Museum's website says about this object:

Reliquary Arm, ca. 1230
South Netherlandish
Silver over oak; hand: bronze-gilt; appliqué plaques: silver-gilt, niello and cabochon stones
25 1/2 x 6 1/2 x 4 in.
The Cloisters Collection, 1947 (47.101.33)

Precious containers for relics—the bones of a holy person, or objects touched by that person—are among the most inventive and accomplished works of art in the Middle Ages. In this reliquary, a silver and gilded arm is bordered both by decorative filigree plaques set with gems and antique cameos, and figurative scenes crafted in niello on silver. These plaques include images of saints Peter and Paul, perhaps the patrons of the church from which this reliquary originally came. As a reliquary was thought to retain the power and holiness of the saintly person, clergy used arm reliquaries to bless people or heal the sick.

It is of course a larger, and more imposing (and truncated!) version of the blessing that Jesus is giving in the sculpture.

The wood used to sculpt The Standing Virgin is a rich, red wood. It is identified as "Boxwood" in the catalogs. Wikipedia says this about Boxwood:

Owing to its fine grain it is a good wood for fine wood carving, although this is limited by the small sizes available. It is also resistant to splitting and chipping, and thus useful for decorative or storage boxes. Formerly, it was used for wooden combs.

Owing to the relatively high density of the wood (it is one of the few woods that are denser than water), boxwood is often used for chess pieces, unstained boxwood for the white pieces and stained ('ebonized') boxwood for the black pieces, in lieu of ebony.

The extremely fine endgrain of box makes it suitable for woodblock printing.

And this about its use for musical instruments:

Due to its high density and resistance to chipping, boxwood is a relatively economical material used to make parts for various stringed instruments. It is mostly used to make tailpieces, chin rests and tuning pegs, but may be used for a variety of other parts as well. Other woods used for this purpose are rosewood and ebony.

Boxwood was a common material for the manufacture of recorders in the eighteenth century, and a large number of mid- to high-end instruments made today are produced from one or other species of boxwood. Boxwood was once a popular wood for other woodwind instruments, and was among the traditional woods for Great Highland bagpipes before tastes turned to imported dense tropical woods such as cocuswood, ebony, and African blackwood.

The Standing Virgin is attributed to Nicolaus Gerhaert von Leiden. She stands about 13 1/4 inches high, and was carved around 1470 [Source: MetMuseum.org].

Here is biographical information on the sculptor Nicolaus Gerhaert von Leiden:

Gerhaert is considered the most influential northern European sculptor of the 15th century. He was born in Leiden, Holland (present day Netherlands) sometime around 1420. Based on the location of his work, we know he spent most his working life in the Germanic areas of Trier, Straßburg, Baden, Konstanz, and Vienna. Much of his documented work is lost to history, but what has survived is characterized by elaborate drapery and extreme physical realism, both extraordinarily vivid and unconventional. His specialties were tombs, altarpieces and other religious pieces. Sandstone and limestone are among his most frequent mediums.

One of his most well known works currently resides in the Musée de l’Œuvre Notre-Dame in Strasbourg (Alsace, present day France). Called the Buste d'homme accoudé (1467), it is an indisputed masterpiece, and is believed to be a self-portrait. Gerhaert died on 28 June 1473 in Wiener Neustadt (present day Austria)

Man Meditating (Buste d'homme accoudé),
an apparent self-portrait, c. 1467

Another source describes the stone as Red Sandstone. Gerhaert seems to like rich rose colored media, like the boxwood he used for The Standing Virgin and the reddish sandstone he used Man Meditating. The Cloisters also incorporate pink marble from the Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa Benedictine monastery, located at the foot of Mount Canigou in the northeast Pyrenees of France, into the architecture. More current areas of the building also retain that warm, pinkish hue.