A Delicate 17th Century Statue of the Madonna standing at the Calvary.
Often erected in the Middle Ages on Gallo-Roman sites, at crossroads along Roman roads, calvaries depicted Christ and the two thieves on Mount Golgotha.
In the 17th Century the representation were also found carved in wood inside of churches.
Mary is depicted here standing, her head delicately tilted down on her left shoulder.
In her stance we see the sorrow and her slightly drooping eyes and half-open mouth reveal an internalized expression of mourning.
She is dressed in a tunic and a long cloak covering her head and narrow shoulders. It falls along her body in a cascade of rounded folds.
Her arms are crossed as if recalling the feeling of holding her Son…
The flat back shows the two knobs which would have linked it to the larger group.
The centerpiece would have been the Crucifixion, depicting Christ and the two sieves on Mount Golgotha. They would have been flanked with the Statue of the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Baptist.
Our Statue is carved out of wood and was once entirely polychrome and gilt.
During the French revolution these testimonies of christian faith were frowned upon and often destroyed with only pieces salvaged.
The ebony pedestal is a later addition.
France 17h Century