Eamonn McEneaney examines a rare 14th-century Madonna Lactans from the collection of Waterford Museum of Treasures
Waterford Museum of Treasures displays one of the largest collections of medieval statuary in Ireland, gifted by the Holy Ghost Hospital, a charity founded by a charter of Henry VIII in 1544 and still in existence today as one of the oldest charitable institutions in Ireland. Recently the collection was significantly augmented by Mr Martin Doyle and the Doyle family of St John’s Park, Waterford, who generously donated a magnificent hard wood sculpture of the Madonna Lactans or Nursing Madonna thought to date from the 14th century. The statue is in very good condition with traces of the original polychrome still evident
