Head of the Virgin with child. In the late Middle Ages, modelling with pipe clay (which is white after firing) became a flourishing branch of decorative art in the Low Countries. The inexpensive material and the use of moulds opened the way to large-scale production of sculptures inthis medium, which became an affordable alternative to wooden or ivory figurines. This is a fragment of a statue of the Virgin Mary that was hidden in the tower of the Oude Kerk in Soest during the Iconoclastic Fury in 1566.

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Size: 1827px × 2500px
Photo credit: © BTEU/RKMLGE / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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