Madonna and Child

Alessandro Algardi

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Bronze casts of the original composition by the Roman sculptor Alessandro Algardi were widely circulated throughout Europe, helping disseminate the Italian Baroque style. The carving of this ivory version, probably modeled after such a bronze, suggests the work of a French sculptor. The Virgin originally held a Rosary in her outstretched hand.

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