Virgin and Child (Maria Lactans)
Author: Unknown
Date: 15th century (?)
Material: Limestone
Dimensions (cm): H 38 x W 21 x D 15,5
Provenance: Unknown
Inventory No.: MAS E 27
Image of Virgin and Child (Maria Lactans), sat in a frontal position, breastfeeding Child Jesus who is on her lap. He is partially covered by his mother’s mantle. The representation of the Virgin breastfeeding Her child is very old, being present in the art of the catacombs since the 2nd century.
After the Council of Trent (1545 – 1563), these representations of the Virgin were avoided because they were seen as a source of covetousness, lust and lasciviousness.
This sculpture has an exact parallel in the Virgin and Child from the Igreja de Gondar in Amarante, dated 1470 by an epigraph and studied by Mário Barroca.