Standing Virgin and Child

This Virgin holding the Christ Child may have been executed by one of Donatello's followers in Padua. The figure types closely resemble those of Donatello's style when he worked there. Numerous Italian 15th-century reliefs depict the Virgin in three-quarters pose, seated on a throne, but representations of the Virgin standing are unusual. Scholar Amy Ng recently compared this relief to Giovanni de Torino's gilt-bronze tabernacle door for Siena's Baptismal font, which also depicts a standing Virgin and child. Giovanni's door replaced one produced by Donatello, which had been returned to the artist in 1434. Although nothing is known of the appearance or whereabouts of Donatello's original relief, it also may have featured a standing Virgin and child. This raises the possibility that the relief could ultimately be derived from Donatello's earlier work in Tuscany.