Picardy, France, year 1500, Madonna with Grapes, Picardy, France, year 1500, Madonna with Grapes

Height: 115 cm

Statue of painted and gilded wood. Part of the figure is carved on the back. The Madonna is designed in the Gothic style, seated and holding a grape. The sculpture further ties the influence of the Italian Renaissance, present especially in the north of the Alps, which can be recognized in the large headdress, in the oval of the face with a long straight nose, small mouth, and heavy eyelids.
It can be compared with the statue of Saint Helena preserved in the Boucher de Perthes Museum (France), where a particular stylistic affinity can be observed in the richly brocaded fabrics of gold, which evoke the textile industry of Arras, which flourished around 1500. The Picardy sculptors were able to render the weight very realistically, and the structure of the substances that surround the body shapes.
The exceptional size of both sculptures is also similar: approximately 1.13 m in height.

The symbolism of grapes as an attribute of the Virgin Mary, or the baby Jesus, is abundantly represented in France and Belgium. Various studies have been carried out on the origin of its meaning, and the explanations can be different: The first examples found date from the 14th century, when it was customary for winemakers to hang grapes on the arms of a statue of the Madonna, which they carried in procession to invoke the protection of the vineyards. The grape is a symbol of the Eucharistic wine, and therefore the Redeemer's blood, but it is also a sign of friendship between God and people. God is the vinedresser of the parable, men are its fruit.
Polychromed and gilded wood
Height: 115 cm