Trapanese sculptor, early 16th century, Madonna with Child, alabaster Trapanese sculptor, early 16th century MADONNA WITH CHILD alabaster sculpture with traces of polychromy and gold decoration, 86x30.5x27 cm Comparative literature H-W. Kruft, Die Madonna von Trapani unde ihre Kopien. Studien zur Madonnen-Typologie und zum Bergriff der Kopie in der sizilianischen Skulptur des Quattrocento , in "Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen Instituts in Florenz", no. 14, 1970, pp. 297-322 The standing Virgin, wrapped in a large cloak, with the Child in her arms grasping her veil with one hand. The image is derived from the famous Madonna of Trapani, kept in the sanctuary of the Santissima Annunziata in the same city, where the sculpture, according to legend coming from Cyprus and miraculously saved from the sea by a group of fishermen, was placed. The cult and veneration that ensued were such that the original statue, datable to around the mid 14th century and attributable to Nino Pisano or another Pisan sculptor in his circle, was copied and replicated for centuries to satisfy the pressing demand of patrons who requested replicas of the venerated Madonna for church altars, as well as smaller versions (in marble, alabaster, ivory and other materials) for private devotion. On this subject, in 1657, the German Jesuit Wilhelm Gumppenberg wrote in his Atlas Marianus: 'Many buy the alabaster carved effigy of Our Lady of Trapani and take it home. There are forty workshops of skilled sculptors who, apart from coral work, do nothing else but make alabaster images of Our Lady of Trapani. Statistics show that more than five million of them are brought out of Sicily every year, since this is the only effigy sought after by all and the only one that is transported out of the island. Nor is it easy on the island itself to find a house where a statuette of the Madonna of Trapani is not given away'.