Madonna and Child

Golden curls and the sweep of gilded drapery give this Virgin Mary the look of a medieval princess. But twisting within her grasp is a vigorous nude child, whose representation suggests studies of nature and ancient sculpture characteristic of the Renaissance. This polychromed high relief may have been created for household devotion or for placement above a church altar. The painter who colored it turned the heads of the nails —  which secure the clay figures to a wooden board — into elements of the design, and hatched the shadowed areas to emphasize the bold modeling by a sculptor who was familiar with the works of Florentine masters Ghiberti and Donatello.