Hans Strigel the Elder
A limewood figure of the Virgin by Hans Strigel the Elder
Carved three-quarters in the round, the reverse flattened and deeply hollowed out. With presumably original, partially overpainted polychromy. The Virgin originally must have held the infant Christ over Her hip. The harmonious curving pose of this sculpture is reminiscent of the Madonnas of the international Gothic style of the early 15th century. The work is attributed to the painter and sculptor Hans Strigel the Elder from Memmingen in Upper Swabia, due to its similarity to the Zell altarpiece, which is signed by the artist and dated 1442. This depiction of the Virgin and the following figure a female saint originate from Deuchelried near Wangen and entered the collection of Ludwig Diehl in the early 20th century. Diehl was particularly concerned with revealing and preserving the original polychromy of the sculptures he collected.
The formerly pegged left hand lacking. Cracks around the plinth, a vertical crack to the back of the veil. Wear with minor losses. Height 115 cm.
Provenance
Coll. of Ludwig Diehl, Stuttgart. - Lempertz auction 306, Cologne, 18.11.1930: Werke alter Malerei und Plastik, u. a. Sammlung Ludwig Diehl, Stuttgart, p. 1-2 & 7, lot 47, pl. 11. - Private ownership, Belgium.
Literature
Exhib. cat.: Marienbild in Rheinland und Westfalen, Recklinghausen 1968 (exhib. in Essen, Villa Hügel), p. 88, cat. no. 77, illus.