Madonna and Child on Front of Building – Bruges, Belgium
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 51° 12.098 E 003° 13.450
31U E 515660 N 5672272
This statue of the Madonna and Child stands in a niche above the entrance of a building next to the bridge leading to the Begijnhof.
Waymark Code: WMFCWV
Location: West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
Date Posted: 09/30/2012
Views: 8
Bruges is one of the best preserved Medieval cities in Europe. It manages to maintain its historical architecture whilst at the same time keeping up to date with the modern world.
Many Bruges buildings have religious statues in niches on street corners or above the entrance to a building.. The majority of these statues are of the Madonna with Child.
This Wikipedia article states “Images of the Madonna and the Madonna and Child or Virgin and Child are pictorial or sculptured representations of Mary, Mother of Jesus, either alone, or more frequently, with the infant Jesus. These images are central icons of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox Christianitywhere Mary remains a central artistic topic.[1] No image (in either the Western or the Eastern Church) permeates Christian art as the image of Madonna and Child.[2]
While Mary, the Mother of Jesus, may be referred to as "the Madonna" in other contexts, in art the term is applied specifically to an artwork in which Mary, with or without the infant Jesus, is the focus, and central figure of the picture. Mary and the infant Jesus may be surrounded by adoring angels or worshiping saints. Images that have a narrative content, including those of the many scenes which make up the Life of the Virgin, are not correctly referred to as "Madonnas" but are given a title that reflects the scene such as the Annunciation to Mary.”
In these Bruges statues the depiction of the child varies from a small baby in arms to a much older child. In this case the statue is not in a niche but has been attached directly to the outside wall. Mary is seated holding a young child approximately 2 years old. This statue of Mary shows her holding a book in her left hand.
The nearby
Begijnhof is a collection of small buildings used by Beguines. These were various lay sisterhoods of the Roman Catholic Church, founded in the 13th century in the Low Countries, comprising religious women who sought to serve God without retiring from the world.