Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index



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  • Title: Vierge Ouvrante (or Shrine Madonna)
  • Creator:
  • Description: The vierge ouvrante is a visual representation of the mystery of the Incarnation. When closed it presents the madonna lactans, a tableau of maternal tenderness in which the Virgin nurses the Christ Child. When opened, the viewer encounters a sculptural representation of the Trinity. The body of Christ on the cross is now missing, as is the dove of the Holy Spirit which would have been attached to the chest of God the Father, above the figure of Christ. Painted scenes on the interior walls of the figure depict scenes from the life of Christ. On the interior left wing is the Annunciation, Nativity, and Adoration of the Magi. On the interior right wing is the Visitation, Presentation of Christ in the Temple, and the Annunciation to the Shepherds. Melissa Katz notes that this particular vierge ouvrante is alone among surviving examples in combining Trinitarian (Eucharistic) and infancy (Incarnation) imagery. The vierge ouvrante became a controversial object, as its message could be taken to mean that the Virgin was the source not only of Jesus's humanity, but also his divinity and even the two other members of the Trinity.
  • Source: Wikimedia Commons
  • Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 Generic
  • Subject (See Also): Jesus Christ- Infancy Madonna Lactans (Artistic Motif) Mary, Virgin, Saint and Child Trinity Vierges Ouvrantes, Statues of the Virgin which Open to Reveal a Scene Inside
  • Geographic Area: Germany
  • Century: 14
  • Date: ca. 1300
  • Related Work:
  • Current Location: New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 17.190.185
  • Original Location:
  • Artistic Type (Category): Digital images; Sculptures
  • Artistic Type (Material/Technique): Oak; Linen covering; Polychromy; Gilding; Gesso
  • Donor:
  • Height/Width/Length(cm): 36.8 cm/34.6 cm (opened); 12.7 cm (closed)/
  • Inscription:
  • Related Resources: Melissa R. Katz, "Marian Motion: Opening the Body of the Vierge ouvrante." Meaning in Motion: The Semantics of Movement in Medieval Art. Edited by Nino Zchomelidse and Giovanni Freni. Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University in association with Princeton University Press, 2009. Pp. 63-91.