Madonna and Child for Statuette

Eric Gill was a major figure in the Arts and Crafts Movement. His efforts to strip his work of extraneous decoration also made him a harbinger of Art Deco. He was a hugely complicated figure, a devout Catholic yet also a sexual libertine, whose practices extended to incest and bestiality. This small image composed of spare, white, elegant lines against a black background recalls the form of a liturgical pax, a holy image meant to be kissed. In the image itself, the Virgin Mary kisses the baby Jesus on the lips, a seemingly innocent act that takes on new dimension in light of Gill’s proclivities.