Madonna and Child

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Scholars have long observed a link between this frequently encountered composition and the beloved full-scale sculpture carved by the Sevillian Juan Martínez Montañés about 1605. However, objects found during the recent excavation of the wreck of a 1602 Manila Galleon point to an even earlier dating for some ivory versions. The notching of the garment edges of this example is rarely found in Philippine carvings and may indicate Indo-Portuguese influence.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art