Virgin and Child with St. John the Baptist

Virgin and Child with St. John the Baptist

Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

According to legend, in 1008 the Virgin Mary encircled the city of Valenciennes with a protective cord, thus saving the citizens from the plague. Carpeaux sketched this group upon his return to Paris from his native Valenciennes, having attended the consecration of the church dedicated to the Virgin's miraculous intervention.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Virgin and Child with St. John the BaptistVirgin and Child with St. John the BaptistVirgin and Child with St. John the BaptistVirgin and Child with St. John the BaptistVirgin and Child with St. John the Baptist

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.