Beautiful Madonna[1] (German: schöne Madonna; Polish: piękna Madonna; German: krásná Madonna) is a style of Madonna sculpture featuring a standing Virgin Mary holding the Christ Child in her arms. Beautiful Madonnas emerged as part of gothic art in the 1400s,[1] and they are part of the Czech soft style or beautiful style, a subgenre of International Gothic art.
,_Cologne,_c._1370-1380,_walnut,_polychrome_-_Museum_Schn%C3%BCtgen_-_Cologne,_Germany_-_DSC09998.jpg)
History and description
editThe Virgin with Christ Child had been a subject in art for centuries, but between the end of the 13th century and the beginning of the 14th century, a distinct style of the Virgin with Christ Child emerged. Artists began portraying the Virgin as a young, beautiful mother with slim S-shaped body wrapped in flowing, draping robes. A defining trait of beautiful Madonna is the Virgin's motherly interaction with the Christ Child. The Virgin holds Jesus in her left arm, and she holds an apple in her right hand as Jesus searches for or reaches towards it.
Beautiful Maddonas are typically carved in stone, primarily limestone. They are usually created as sculptures for a church, especially in chapels or on pillars. They are devotional figures that stand separate from the liturgical space of the church. Beautiful Maddonas likely originated in the Czech Republic. They became especially popular in gothic art from Austria, Silesia, and Prussia.
A beautiful Madonna is usually carved from stone. Similar depictions of the Virgin Mary in other mediums from the 14th and 15th century, such as wooden statues, paintings, murals, or books, have been included as beautiful Madonnas in art history literature.
Gallery
edit-
Beautiful Madonna of Krużlowa (c. 1410). -
Beautiful Madonna of Breslavia (c. 1390-1400). -
Beautiful Madonna of Gdansk (c. 1430-1435). -
Beautiful Madonna of Horb (c. 1400-1410). -
Beautiful Madonna (center) with St. Oswald (left) and St. Catherine of Alexandria (right) (c. 1410-1420). -
Sternberg Madonna (c. 1390). -
Beautiful Madonna of Hallstatt (c. 1400). -
-
Beautiful Madonna in the Museum of Mining and Gothic Art (c. 1410). -
Beautiful Madonna of Pilsen (c. 1380-1384). -
Beautiful Madonna of Toruń (c. 1390). -
-
-
-
Beautiful Madonna of Krumlov (c. 1400). -
Beautiful Madonna at the altar of St. Nicholas Church, in Stralsund, Mecklemburg-Vorpommern (Germany) (c. 1430).
References
edit- ^ a b Tatarkiewicz, Wladyslaw (July 26, 2004). Historia de la estética III: La estética moderna, 1400-1700 [History of Aesthetics Volume 3: Modern Aesthetics, 1400-1700] (in Spanish). Ediciones AKAL. p. 37. ISBN 9788476006696.
Further reading
edit- Jan Białostocki, Sztuka cenniejsza niż złoto, Warszawa 2004, pp. 214–215.
- Diethmar Grossmann, Schöne Madonnen 1350–1450 Salzburg 1965
- Janusz Kębłowski, Dwie antytezy w sprawie tzw. Pięknych Madonn, en Sztuka ok. 1400. Materiały Sesji Stowarzyszenia Historyków Sztuki, Poznań, listopad 1995, t. I, red. Teresa Hrankowska, Warszawa 1996, pp. 165–185.
- Zygmunt Kruszelnicki, Piękne Madonny – problem otwarty, Teka Komisji Historii Sztuki VIII, Toruń 1992, pp. 31–105.
- Wojciech Marcinkowski, Co to jest Piękna Madonna? Uwagi o wzajemnym powiązaniu formy, ikonografii i funkcji w sztuce późnogotyckiej, en Mateusz Kapustka (ed.), Prawda i twórczość, Wrocław 1998, pp. 39–53
- Michael V. Schwarz, Piękna Madonna jako kompleksowa forma obrazowa. Zarys problematyki, "Dzieła i Interpretacje" 1993, n.º 1, pp. 87–93
- Gotyk. Architektura, rzeźba, malarstwo, red. R. Toman, 2004, pp. 354–355.