Portuguese Sculpture Our Lady with Child Jesus, 17th Century

Amazing Portuguese sculpture “OUR LADY WITH CHILD JESUS ” 17th century Renaissance, in polychrome “Ançã Stone “. The figure is represented standing, resting on a square base with an angel, holding a branch in his right hand and the Child Jesus Savior of the World in his left hand. Wears clothing from the Order of Carmelites, decorated in the center with the insignia. Small flaws. Measure: height: 160 cm. Ançã Stone is a light-coloured limestone, between yellowish and blue-white, with an oolitic texture, without veins, very soft, originating in the region of Ançã, in the municipality of Cantanhede. The compact and very fine structure of the Ançã limestone makes it easy to cut the rock, work on a sharp point and perfect it with a pointer and chisel, characteristics that have led, since the Romanisation of the current Portuguese territory, to its use on a large scale in architecture and sculpture. Its use in sculpture gained great Expansion from the 15th century onwards and works made with that stone spread across Portugal, much of Spain and across several European countries.