Virgin from La Rodona in Vic

This image comes from the old church of Santa Maria of La Rodona, demolished in 1781, which had a circular ground plan and stood in a square opposite the main front of Vic Cathedral. The Virgin is portrayed as a Basilissa of the Byzantine court with a mantle decorated with an edge of precious stones covering her head, on top of which she must have worn the crown. The figure of the Child, almost lost, had a new head added during the 19th century. It is a sculpture endowed with great beauty thanks to the stylised canon of its body and the serene expression of the facial features. The fact that the back of the sculpture is flat suggests that it must have been part of an altar frontal, like the sculpture also in wood in the Museu de Solsona (MDCS 275), inspired by the model of the famous Virgin of El Claustre by master Gilabert, from Toulouse. Given that the last consecration of the church of La Rodona took place in 1180, this date could correspond to the moment when this sculpture was made.