Terms and conditions of use
The Virgin attended by three holy women
(c. 1530)
Medium
earthenware
Measurements
43.2 × 70.5 × 46.2 cm (overall)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1971
Gallery location
14th - 16th Century Gallery - Painting & Decorative Arts
Level 1, NGV International
About this work
The dramatic collapse of the sorrowing Mary at the foot of the cross is the central motif of many Crucifixion scenes. This delicately energetic sculpture of the Virgin attended by three holy women is a bozetto (study) for a much larger sculptural composition of the Deposition of Christ, the artist’s 1531 altarpiece for the Santa Cecilia Modena. Working principally in his hometown of Modena, Antonio Begarelli became renowned for monumental terracotta sculptures of religious subjects. The movement and expressivity that Begarelli achieved in the fragile medium of clay once caused Michelangelo to exclaim, ‘If this clay could become marble, woe to antique statuary!’
Artwork Details
Accession Number
E3-1971
Department
International Sculpture
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Dame Carol Colburn-Grigor CBE through Metal Manufactures Limited