In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the Virgin became the object of intense and widespread devotion. As the cult of the Virgin spread in the Gothic period, she came to be regarded as the youthful and aristocratic embodiment of both Christian and chivalric ideals. Particularly after the middle of the thirteenth century, the Virgin was represented not only as a delicate, smiling Queen of Heaven, but also as tender and maternal.

This standing Virgin and Child represents one of the more affectionate variants of this maternal image, called a Virgo lactans because she is nursing the child as she coddles him. The gently swaying posture, voluminous drapery folds, and cascading curvilinear hemlines conform to the characteristics of French sculpture of the Ile de France in the middle of the fourteenth century. The long tresses of hair falling well below the shoulders, and the squat face with heavy lidded eyes and high cheekbones, however, suggest a more provincial origin and possibly a later date.