Morgan Madonna

1059 Words5 Pages
During the 14th century the Christian religion played a huge role in how the artistic world shifted from the late Romanesque to the French Gothic period. Reliquaries, objects that held relics, were sculpted during the late Romanesque period for the purposes of holding Mary’s and Jesus Christ’s belongings. One particular sculpture that served as a reliquary, was a statuette termed Virgin and Child or Morgan Madonna. Now, shifting to the late Gothic era in France, another statute that was built by an unknown artist was called Virgin and Child. Both works, the Morgan Madonna and Virgin and Child differ in the artistic elements due to the eras religious goals but carry the same message. The universal message was to honor and dedicate precious things…show more content…
Europe begun to become unstable when of the most deadliest plagues struck. The plague was termed the Black Death and it almost wiped out over half the population of Europe. The Black Death took many people by surprise because they had no idea of how to prevent or survive from it. For support and hope, the Europeans relied on their Christian Faith and in result, many churches, sculptures, and reliquaries were built to rely on God and Jesus for savior. The priests told many people that the pandemic resembled a sin and evil. As a result from the outbreak, an impact on artistic achievements slowed down. The subject matters became gloomy and gruesome but despite the negative impacts, artists and sculptors created free standing sculptures of Mary and Jesus to give others and themselves expectation for surviving. The incentive to create can be visualized and analyzed from the differences of the Morgan Madonna and Virgin and…show more content…
The first difference they have is their mediums. Starting with the Virgin and Child, the sculpture’s medium was that of marble while the Morgan Madonna was that of wood. Another essential difference between the works is their style. The Morgan Madonna introduces a non naturalistic viewpoint because of the rigid linear lines that represent Mary’s dress. As for the Virgin and Child, Mary’s drapery is smoother to eye with curvy lines that define naturalism. Differences can also be seen through their poses. In the Morgan Madonna, Mary and Christ appear in a very rigid frontal position with an appearance almost as if they had not any room to “wiggle” around. Fast forwarding to the Virgin and Child, Mary and her son seem to be more relaxed, with room to move; the relaxation interpretation comes from the use of the medium and the Late Gothic artists idea of elegance. One final difference between the sculptures is that the Morgan Madonna functions as a reliquary while the Virgin and Child was to provide miracles to the people. Despite all the differences between the two free standing sculptures, the one common message they focus on is how the divine Mary and later, Jesus Christ provide many people in Europe hope of survival in the diseased
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