Both publicly, in feasts dedicated to the major events in Mary’s life, and privately,
in small and concentrated images made to be contemplated by individual viewers, the
Virgin was the focus of intense religious feeling. As mother of God, she was
popularly carved to show the Godhead in her very womb. Called “Vièrges
Ouvrantes” in French (literally: virgins that open) and Shrine Madonnas in English,
these objects were often used as aids to private devotion. (See Plate 7.3, Seeing the
Middle Ages: A Shrine Madonna.)
Seeing the Middle Ages
