Cologne around 1480/1490
A Cologne carved wooden pietà group, around 1480/1490
Carved in the round, the reverse only partially worked. With partially overpainted older polychromy.. This finely carved work depicts the Virgin Mary kneeling with Her hands folded in prayer before the body of Her dead Son which is lain upon the stony ground before Her. The rock to the left of the Virgin has a rectangular opening which was presumably meant to hold the beam of a cross. The composition, style, size, and carving of this Vesper image relate closely to another pietà in the Schnütgen Museum in Cologne (inv. no. 967) which has been attributed to Cologne and dated to the time around 1480/1490.
A diagonal crack runs through the figure of Christ. Minor wear throughout. Mounted on an old associated plinth. Height 23 cm (without base)..
Provenance
Collection of Albert Ullmann, Frankfurt (1916). - Collection of Hedwig Ullmann, Frankfurt/England. - Collection of Dr. Arthur Kauffmann, London (1968). - Munich art market. - South German private collection.
Literature
Friedrich Lübbecke: Die Sammlung Ullmann zu Frankfurt a. M., in: Cicerone VIII, issue 19/20, 1916, p. 379-399, here p. 383, illus. 7. - Eugen Lüthgen: Die abendländische Kunst des 15. Jahrhunderts, Bonn/Leipzig 1920, p. 81, pl. 44. - For the comparison image see, Reinhard Karrenbrock: Museum Schnütgen. Die Holzskulpturen des Mittelalters II,1. Köln, Westfalen, Norddeutschland, Cologne 2001, p. 205-207, no. 24 illus.