Details
- Object type
miniature crib; miniature cradle
- Place Associated
Southern Netherlands, now Belgium, Brabant (probably) (place of manufacture)
- Date
1480-1500
- Materials
oak, paint, gilt
- Dimensions
overall: 253 mm x 190 mm x 115 mm 390 g
- Description
-
This little cradle may once have been part of a larger structure, suspended within a framework in which it could be moved to and fro. It is a rare survivor of a particular type of devotion which encouraged cloistered women to come closer to God by caring for a doll-like statue of the infant Jesus as if it were a real baby. This took the form of washing, swaddling and dressing the doll, laying him in the crib beneath embroidered sheets, rocking the cradle and mimicking lulling a real baby to sleep, for example through song. One end of the cradle is decorated with a Pietà (the dead Christ supported on his mother's lap), deliberately recalling the image of the Virgin and Child to poignant effect. The other end contains a representation of St Martin, the significance of which is not clear, although he may be the saint in whose name the convent was dedicated.
- Credit Line/Donor
Gifted by Sir William and Lady Burrell to the City of Glasgow, 1944
- Collection
Burrell Collection: Wood Carvings
- ID Number
50.239
- Location
Burrell Collection