RELIEF OF SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF THE VIRGIN

STYLE 

Despite the fair-sized figures with serene expressions, most of which were represented in reclining positions, the author of these reliefs assembled groups with notable skill and freedom.

The figures are depicted with wide faces and prominent but fleshy cheekbones, receding brows and straight, short, wide noses and mouths. One of their many outstanding characteristics is their large, slightly oval, almond-shaped eyes that are frequently depicted as being half closed in order to transmit the impression of rapture. Hair was represented in many different ways: straight with partings, except in the figure of the Holy Virgin which has a wave at her temple, the undulating hair of the beards of the Elders and in the curly hair in the figures of the Holy Infant, Gaspar and some of the angels. Perhaps the most personal variation lies in the regular, radial ringlets reserved for the Archangel Gabriel and the angel kneeling before the Holy Virgin in the Christmas scenario.

Tucks and pleats in clothing are stark and broken and concentrated in certain places.