# Virgin and Child on a Crescent Moon [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [UNKNOWN MASTER, German]() - Date: 1451-1500 - Technique: Limewood with paint, 192 x 69 x 43 cm ## Commentary Virgin and Child on a Crescent Moon c. 1480 Limewood with paint, 192 x 69 x 43 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Carved in high relief, this sculpture was undoubtedly the focal group in the central shrine of a large winged altarpiece of a type that flourished in southern Germany and Austria in the late Gothic period. The image of the Virgin on a crescent moon reflects the vision of St John \(Apocalypse 12:1\): "a woman clothed in the sun, and the moon was under her feet." The orb held by Christ signifies his role as spiritual ruler of the world, while the grapes in his mother's hand symbolize the wine of the Mass. ## Related artworks - [12 scenes from the Life of Christ]() - [A Bath-House]() - [A carpenter at work]() - [A Knight of the Rehlinger Family]() - [A Lady]() - [Adoration of the Magi]() - [Adoration of the Magi]() - [Adoration of the Magi]() - [Adoration of the Magi]() - [Adoration of the Shepherds]() - [Altarpiece of the Seven Joys of Mary]() - [Altarpiece of the Seven Joys of Mary]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()