Opening Virgin (Vierge Ouvrante)

This object is an example of a type of small-scale Christian moveable-part medieval sculpture called a Vierge Ouvrante (“Opening Virgin”). This particular sculpture is 14.5 inches (36.8 cm) high, carved from oak, and dates from the early fourteenth century. It is today in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Its exterior depicts the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus, holding her son. The sculpture can be opened along the center of the Virgin Mary’s body to reveal six painted scenes flanking a Christian Trinity. In the scene of the Trinity, an enthroned God the Father holds at his knees a cross on which would have hung Christ’s body topped by the dove of the Holy Spirit (these elements are now missing).