Unknown sculptor, Florence (Italy)
Around 1410–50
Painted stucco
Height: 57
This relief was cast from a mould of an original, attributed to the great Florentine sculptor and goldsmith Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378–1455). In Renaissance Florence, the market for multiples in stucco (a plaster-like material) was driven by intense devotion to the Virgin Mary.
Signs of wear on this relief indicate it was placed outside, most likely on the facade of a private home. Originally, the shields were painted with coats of arms, probably of a husband and wife. On the base, faint traces of the original inscription in Latin, AVE MARIA (‘Hail Mary’), are noticeable.