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Mourning Virgin
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
These traditional devotional figures at one time formed a Crucifixion group with a Crucified Christ (now lost). The ensemble may have been mounted high above the entrance to the sanctuary of a church on a barrier called a rood beam, beyond which lay people were not allowed. Crucifixion groups were common in medieval churches where they symbolized the sacrifice and real presence of Christ in the Mass.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineMourning Virgin, c. 1240–1260. Austria, Region of Salzburg, Lungau?, 13th century. Painted wood; overall: 43.9 x 10.9 cm (17 5/16 x 4 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Severance A. Millikin, 1957.500
