This is a plaster cast after Michelangelo's marble original, 1504-06, in the Church of Notre-dame, Bruges, Belgium. The maker of this cast is unknown and this is probably made in Bruges, late 1871. This cast was acquired from the Belgian government in 1872 through the international exchange scheme initiated by Henry Cole. The agreement facilitated exchange between museums across Europe of reproductions of objects in their respective countries. The document concluding this agreement, the International Convention, was signed by the fifteen crowned princes of Europe in 1867 at the Paris exhibition. With the aid of this agreement, the South Kensington Museum was able to amass a collection of casts unrivaled in its international scope and diversity.
The cast of the Bruges Madonna is today displayed alongside other casts of sculpture of Michelangelo in the east Cast Court, devoted entirely to reproductions of Italian works of art. It is probable that the surface of this cast was left unfinished to illustrate the complex network of piece molds required to make such a reproduction. Since they were first opened in 1873, the two magnificent Cast Court galleries at the V&A have displayed reproductions of some of the most significant monuments of medieval and Renaissance Europe. In these galleries one can view plaster casts of sculptures from Renaissance Italy, notably some of the masterpieces produced by Donatello, Luca della Robbia and Michelangelo.
The sculptures are faithful copies of the originals. They were made in the 19th century, when the vogue for replicated works of art was at its height. Museum visitors at that time generally had little opportunity to travel abroad, and illustrated art books were costly. These superb casts could afford people a rare glimpse of the original sculptures, even if they could not visit Florence or Rome. Artists and designers then and now could likewise sketch and learn from them. The painted surfaces of these reproductions often mirror the original stone or bronze, and the casts seem convincingly monumental. But they are made of plaster, a relatively fragile material.
The original sculpture was purchased by Jean and Alexandre Mouscron, cloth merchants of Bruges with establishments in Rome and Florence. They shipped the Madonna to Bruges in 1506. There it was installed on an altar in the church of Notre Dame, and framed by a tabernacle of black and white marble designed by Jan de Heere of Ghent and his son Lucas and completed by 1571.
The Virgin in seated with the Christ Child standing naked between her legs while he holds her left hand with his right. She holds a book on her right thigh.
The Madonna and Child or The Virgin and Child is often the name of a work of art which shows the Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus. The word Madonna means "My Lady" in Italian. Artworks of the Christ Child and his mother Mary are part of the Roman Catholic tradition in many parts of the world including Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, South America and the Philippines. Paintings known as icons are also an important tradition of the Orthodox Church and often show the Mary and the Christ Child. They are found particularly in Eastern Europe, Russia, Egypt, the Middle East and India.