Large Virgin And Child, Spain, 16th C.

Large Virgin and Child in painted and carved wood in the round representing the Virgin and Child holding the terrestrial globe. The theme of the Virgin and Child is the most represented in all Christian art, while the childhood of Jesus is almost completely evaded by the canonical evangelists. This representation is probably the fruit of a realization of an archaic theme (Isis breastfeeding Harpocrates, the child Horus). We thus find numerous representations of the "woman and child" in most cultures around the world, including in pre-Christian Europe. Christ here carries the globe symbolizing the temporal - and not only spiritual - domination of Christ over the world. In Western iconography, from the 15th century, the image of Christ carrying the orb in his hand receives the name Savator Mundi (savior of the world).