John Fraher
Italian paintings showing images of the Virgin and Child were examined from the following periods: 12C and before, 13C, 14C, 15C and 16C. The child's age was estimated (a) from its internal dimensions, using head to total height ratio, referenced to established data and (b) using external dimensions, by comparing its height with that of the virgin.
The Child's average age decreased progressively. It was just under 10 years in the 12C and before, 7 years in 13C, 4 years in 14C, 2 years in 15C and 1 year in 16C. Ages determined from internal dimensions were much greater than those based on external dimensions. The child was generally not shown as a mini-adult. The composite Virgin and Child group nearly always lay outside the bounds of reality because of the disparity of the scales used for the two figures, the child being mrkedly scaled down relative to the virgin.