Madonna

This statue is one of a group of Madonnas, several of which have survived in the region of Paris. Unlike French Madonnas of the mid-thirteenth century, which were conceived for viewing on a diagonal, this Mary faces the beholder frontally. Though she is life-size and therefore has a great presence, the shape of her body is merely hinted at, hidden by the finely nuanced relief of the folds produced by the thin, overlapping layers of her robe. The sequence of various curves, and the ornamentation established by the wavy hems of the fabric, have an aesthetic value of their own, almost independent of the body, and serve to reinforce the expressive effect of beauty and tenderness, essential characteristics of Mary, in the sublime overall impact of the statue. The treatment of the cloth folds in the lower part recalls the delicacy of clustered shafts in the Gothic architecture of the time – a reminder that this type of statue was derived from figures in architectural contexts. The Berlin Madonna, like others of the same type, was probably placed within a tabernacle.