Old Master Sculpture & Works of Art
Old Master Sculpture & Works of Art
Southern German, 17th century
Relief with the Virgin and Child ('Mariahilf')
Lot Closed
December 6, 01:39 PM GMT
Estimate
3,000 - 5,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Southern German, 17th century
Relief with the Virgin and Child ('Mariahilf')
alabaster, in a velvet lined gilt wood frame
relief: 29 by 21cm., 11½ by 8¼in.
frame: 45 by 37.5cm., 17¾ by 14¾in.
Private collection, Europe
The present relief follows a painting by Lucas Cranach the Elder of circa 1520-1530 in the Parish Church of St Jakob in Innsbruck, which was venerated widely as 'Mariahilf'. The painting inspired numerous adaptations in sculpture during the 17th and 18th centuries, several of which are illustrated in Legner, op. cit. An ivory relief of the subject in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum (inv. no. R 4546) provides a close stylistic parallel for the present work. The type of alabaster, with prominent grey veins, is found in works by Leonhard Kern (1588–1662) and other members of his family.
RELATED LITERATURE
A. Legner, Dürers Verwandlung in der Skulptur zwischen Renaissance und Barock, exh. cat. Liebieghaus, Frankfurt, 1981, pp. 204-208, nos. 125-130