1010 - Schwaben zweite Hälfte 15./ frühes 16. Jh.

Schwaben zweite Hälfte 15./ frühes 16. Jh. Swabia second half 15th century / early 16th century A Swabian limewood figure of the Virgin on the Crescent, second half 15th c. / early 16th c. Limewood with remains of several polychrome paint layers, extensively overpainted, especially in the flesh areas. Carved three-quarters in the round, the reverse flattened and deeply hollowed out. One of the blossoms on the back of the Virgin's crown missing, a second one reattached, a vertical crack to the front with an older stabilising splint above the hem of the gown. Height 139 cm. Provenance South German private collection, 1984 purchased at Ulf Härtl, Bamberg/Hemhofen. Literature Cf. cat. Michel Erhart & Jörg Syrlin d.Ä. Spätgotik in Ulm, Ulm-Stuttgart 2002, cat.-no. 69. This , almost life-sized, well-preserved and impressive sculpture of the Madonna is a typical example of late Swabian Gothic art, both in its overall design and in the facial features and the towering crown. It is almost certain that, prior to the Reformation or secularisation, it was the centrepiece of a Marian altar. In her gently swaying pose she is designed for a frontal and slightly lowered viewpoint. Over her belted dress she wears a cloak studded with precious stones, under the blue colour, a red paintwork shows through. Beneath the folds, the anatomy of her free leg is unusually clearly visible. The tip of her right shoe is resting on the crescent moon; her right hand holds the Christ Child, who reaches for the pear held in her left hand. The depiction of the child, the anatomy, and the position of the legs and arms also point to Michel Erhart as a source of inspiration.