Madonna

Sculpture in Lorraine around and after 1300 possessed great significance, in particular for its impact on work in the Rhineland (especially Cologne), Hesse and Westphalia. This somewhat larger Madonna in the Berlin Sculpture Collection, also made in an important workshop in Lorraine, is striking for its matronly figure, which emphasizes the impression of naturalness. In contrast to the smaller variant from the Schwartz Collection, she is presented frontally, and conceived as a block on a vertical contour. Another distinctive feature of this and numerous other Lorraine Madonnas is the virtually square format of the face, rather like a coat of arms. From the front, the infant seems to be turning directly to the person praying before him. In his hands he was holding a crown, proffered as a heavenly reward, but this has been lost since the Second World War.