Saint Mary of Guimarães
Author: Unknown
Date: 13th century
Material: Polychromed pear tree
Dimensions (cm): H 84 x W 32
Provenance: Guimarães, Colegiada de Nossa Senhora da Oliveira
Inventory No.: MAS E 1
This Romanesque sculpture, made of pear tree wood, symbol of fertility, represents the Virgin sat on a throne, holding Child Jesus on Her lap, both in a frontal position and forming a static group profoundly dominated by the rules of symmetry. It follows the Byzantine iconographical outline of the Virgin in Majesty.
As it is typical of the Romanesque style, this Virgin presents an indefinite smile, an absent and expressionless look and a very upright posture. We can still see the polychromy, which reveals the taste of the medieval Man for colour.
In the 17th century, there was a tendency to increase the realism of the sacred images by dressing the free-standing sculptures. So, Our Lady’s arms, as well as the side parts of the throne and the Child that probably was on her lap were eliminated, thus profoundly mutilating the image.
In spite of the destruction it was subjected to, this sculpture occupies a special place in the history of Portuguese art. In fact, it is one of the oldest (few) Romanesque devotional wooden sculptures known in Portugal and the oldest image of the Virgin from the Colegiada de Nossa Senhora da Oliveira to survive to the present.
RELATED LEARNING ACTIVITIES
Theme tour: D. João I e Guimarães
Shadows theatre: Lenda do Espirro de D. João I