18th Century Carved Oak Sculpture of Mary Magdalene

An 18th century carved oak statuette of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, probably South German, depicting a finely carved figure in pooling...

A late 18th century Spanish Baroque center table made of solid walnut with lyre shaped legs joined by wrought iron stretchers. Two dovetailed drawers with hand-carved decoration and ...

This is an outstanding Italian 18th century carved wood polychromed sculpture of Virgin Mary. The Sculpture is hand painted with some remains of a gold gilt in few places and originated until lately in a private Villa in Tuscany (Italy). The colors are typical red, blue and green are spectacular on this large figure. The Virgin's hands are joined together in a prayer, while standing on a pedestal on the both sides of which are devil's horns (bottom left side horn missing ) symbolising Holly Mary defeating the Evil, protected by the Holly Ghost and an Angel. A story tells the pose of the Virgin Mary sculpture...

Completely hand-crafted in 18th century Spain, this sculpture of the Virgin stands 1.5 meters / 5 feet tall and was most certainly created for devotional purposes, to be displayed in a church or chapel. Besides its impressive size this sculpture is an excellent, museum-quality example of the Spanish “Estofado” polychrome technique, developed during the Gothic period to imitate rich brocade fabrics. The finely carved “fabric” areas of the sculpture would be first covered in gesso, and then a layer of gold leaf would be applied. The gold leaf would then be painted over with various colors of tempera paints. Once dry, the painted surface would be incised or scratched away in patterns, revealing the gold beneath. The sculpture was professionally restored in 2022 by a firm that is often hired by the Spanish government to work on historic building interiors and museum pieces. The virgin was carefully cleaned, repaired and its condition stabilized. A complete and fully-illustrated restoration report will be included with purchase. Often confused with the virgin birth of Jesus, the belief that the Blessed Virgin Mary herself was conceived “immaculately” without original sin has been variously defended and debated within the Catholic Church since the pre-Middle Ages. For centuries, artists struggled to create an acceptable visual representation of this highly abstract concept, in part taking inspiration from the Book of Revelation and other scriptural sources. We see the Virgin standing on a half moon (biblically inspired, though also an ancient symbol of chastity) with her long natural hair loose down her back, another indication of purity. Both her white tunic and flowing blue mantle...