864 - Bendl, Jakob (attr.)

Bendl, Jakob (attr.) Waldsee ca. 1585 - ca. 1655/60 Pfarrkirchen H. 131 cm Virgin and Child on the crescent moon. The Christ Child sits on her left hand; she holds the sceptre in her right. Dressed in a rich robe with a cloak. Lime wood, carved with hollowed back. Minimal remnants of old polychromy. The polychromy and gilding have been elaborately restored and repainted. The polychromy is tending to flake off. The Child supplemented. Crown, sceptre and orb made of gilded metal set with glass stones; all parts added later. Restorations, additions; later pedestal made of lime wood, painted. Southern German private collection, in the possession of the family since at least the 1960s Jakob Bendl came from a family of sculptors in South Tyrol who had moved to Waldsee. He worked for the Truchsess family of Waldburg-Zeil; following disputes with the Zürn family of sculptors, he left the area and settled in Lower Bavaria. Related works: Coronation of the Virgin on the altar of St Peter’s Collegiate Church in Bad Waldsee; figure of St John on a side altar of the hospital chapel in Bärenweiler, dating from around 1619. Lit.: Exhibition catalogue Barock am Bodensee/ Plastik. Bregenz 1964, cat. 4 We would like to thank Dr Albrecht Miller, Ottobrunn, for the attribution.