Virgin and Child

Desiderio da Settignano was the most gifted Florentine sculptor of his day. He excelled at creating marble reliefs of the Virgin and Child, in which forms overlap within an extremely shallow space while conveying a profound awareness of the bond between mother and child. This painted stucco, of which at least a dozen versions are known, was cast from a marble known as the Turin Madonna (Turin, Galleria Sabauda), one of Desiderio’s most admired works. The quality of the painting and punching suggest that this stucco was finished in the workshop of Neri di Bicci, a 15th-century Florentine painter who frequently collaborated with other artists.