A MARBLE FIGURE OF THE MADONNA WITH CHILD, PROBABLY COLOGNE, 1ST HALF 14TH CENTURY
Marble, head of the child and the Madonna's sceptre lost, prob. Cologne, 1st half 14th C. (GR 2.043)
The head of the Child and the Madonna's sceptre lost. Minor wear. Height 37.5 cm.
A marble figure of the Virgin with child, probably Cologne, 1st half 14th century. Carved in the round, the reverse slightly flattened. A full-figure depiction of the crowned Virgin standing in contrapposto, holding a sceptre in her right hand and the infant Christ over her hip. The Child is depicted in a lively pose, holding a bird in his left hand and reaching for his foot with the right. The virgin wears a veil and a cloak, which is gathered in deep folds across her body and falls to the side in a mass of curving seams to which the vertical parallel pleats of her floor length gown form a pleasant contrast. The style of this figure is clearly influenced by the marble sculptures of the high altar of Cologne Cathedral, which were completed in 1310.
Provenance
591th Lempertz Auction, Cologne, 20.11.1982, lot 1739.
The Rau Collection for UNICEF
Literature
For the marble sculptures of the high altar at Cologne Cathedral, see Leonie Becks, Klaus Hardering et.al.: Zurückgewonnen für den Kölner Dom. Die heilige Katharina vom Hochaltar und ein Pleurant vom Grabmal des Erzbischofs Wilhelm von Gennep, hg. v. d. Kulturstiftung der Länder in Verbindung mit dem Dombauarchiv und der Domschatzkammer Köln, Cologne 2008.
Exhibitions
Lent to the Museum Schnütgen, Cologne (2009 - 2012).