A very rare and important Mosan polychrome softwood group of the Virgin Lactans (Galaktotrophusa), possibly Liègeois Late-Romanesque, first half 13th century

carved in full round, with reliquary compartment to the back

Comparative literature: De Borghgrave Altena, Madones en Majeste, A Propos de Notre-Dame Eprave, Revue Belge archéologie et histoire de art XXX, Belgische academie voor oudheidkunde, 1961.
Rhein und Maas, Kunst und Kultur 800-1400, Kunsthalle Köln, exhib. cat. Cologne 1972.
J.J.M. Timmers, De kunst van het Maasland, Assen 1971.

In reasonably good condition, minor restorations to old woodworm holes, minor losses to the raised parts of the carvings, with traces of old polychromy (multiple layers), traces of old woodworm and area to the back with related losses, right hand lacking, Child lacking right arm and with small wood loss to left leg, remains of fabric (cotton?) visible on lap and legs, small bottom wood board of reliquary compartment of later date.
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Morphologically, the present Virgin Lactans is closely related to the most common Madonna and Child representation of the Romanesque period the Sedes Sapientiae. This Virgin with its humanised and naturalistic representation of its figure and its smoothly modelled and flowing drapery can be easily linked to a distinguished group of Sedes Sapientiae sculptures, roughly located in the modern Belgium part of the Mosan region and dating from the late 12th to first half of the 13th century. Most prominent of this group is the so called 'Vierge' in the church of Saint Jean in Liège.
The theme of the Maria Lactans is extremely rare in the Romanesque period. Only with the emergence of the private devotion from the fourteenth century onwards it became more popular and common in Western art. One of the very few known early examples, beside the present sculpture, is the Liègeois so called 'Vierge de Dom Rupert', a sandstone relief dating from about 1150/1160, now in the Musee Curtius in Liège. It is even likely that the 'Vierge de Dom Rupert' was (at least iconographically) the direct source for the present wood sculpture. Because of its small size and its thematic very intimate character – the Virgin Lactans type specifically emphasises the human aspect of Christ's nature and Mary's special role as mediator between humanity and god – our sculpture most probably was intended for private devotion in the private or house chapel of a wealthy and important person, possibly a lady.