Central Rhine Region circa 1470
A Central Rhenish figure of the Virgin and Child on the crescent, circa 1470
Walnut, carved in the round. The original polychromy partially overpainted. A half-length depiction of the Virgin Mary floating above a cloud bank within the crescent moon. The nude Child is depicted in his mother's arms holding an apple in his hand. The carving of the clouds continues onto the underside of the piece to surround a centrally drilled hole, which suggests that this aperture may have been used to affix the Virgin to a pole. The finely worked figure, which was previously kept in the alcove of a house in Andernach, is comparable to the Madonna of Longuich and the altar of Saint Sebastian in the Church of Saint Gangulphus in Trier, made in 1467 by Peter van Wederait.
Toes of the Child lost, the rest with very minor wear. Height 42 cm.
Provenance
The Gustav Hobraeck collection, Cologne/Neuwied. - The Inamarie and H. G. Klein collection, Cologne.
Literature
Josef Busley, Heinrich Neu: Die Kunstdenkmäler des Kreises Mayen. vol. 1, Düsseldorf 1941, p. 199. - Exhib. cat.: Große Kunst des Mittelalters aus Privatbesitz (Schnütgen-Museum Köln 2.4-6.6.1960), Cologne 1960, p. 43-44, cat. nr. 60, pl. 50. - For comparable works, cf.: Ernst Wackenroder: Die Kunstdenkmäler des Landkreises Trier, Düsseldorf 1936, p. 223, illus. 139. - Hermann Bunjes u.a.: Die kirchlichen Denkmäler der Stadt Trier, Düsseldorf 1938, p. 78-79, illus. 62.
Exhibitions
Cologne 1960.