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Attributed to Martin Hoffmann
The Virgin and Child
c. 1510
© Musée du Louvre/P. Philibert
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Attributed to Martin Hoffmann
The Virgin and Child
c. 1510
From the commandery of the Antonites of Isenheim
Linden
H. 1.72 m; W. 0.69 m; D. 0.49 m
Former collection of Georges Spetz (1844-1914) in Isenheim. At the sale of the collection in 1924, the statue was classified as a historic monument and bought by the Louvre.
R.F. 1833
Sculptures
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| Author(s) |
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| Guillot de Suduiraut Sophie |
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The Virgin and Child |
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The Virgin and Child of Isenheim is one of the most beautiful German late Gothic Madonnas. It features impressively complex drapery, with turbulent folds artificially broken and puffed up in front of the body. The crescent moon at the Virgin's feet evokes belief in the Immaculate Conception. The opulent beauty of the mother and the complete nakedness of her Son are in line with the humanization of Mary and Christ in the late Middle Ages.
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The humanization of Mary
The humanization of Mary and her Son is consistent with the change in religious feeling in the late Middle Ages. The Virgin takes on more opulent forms, an individual feminine face, and a gentle, pensive expression. Her plump, laughing, wriggling Son is shown completely naked to emphasize the human nature of God Incarnate. The bird and the pomegranate in His hands refer to the Eucharist and the Passion. The crescent moon at the Virgin's feet expresses Mary's preeminence over the earthly world and her victory over sin. This symbolic image of the Immaculate Conception was common in the late Middle Ages. It identifies the Virgin with the "Woman" of the Apocalypse, whom Saint John described as a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head (Revelation 12:1). The moon is the symbol of fickleness and corruption.
A masterpiece of Germanic late Gothic art
This monumental figure is imposing because of the mass and complexity of the drapery and its powerful formal inventiveness. The Virgin is holding the material of her mantle in both hands so that it bunches in front of her body and fans out as a seat for her Child, who is thus openly offered for veneration. The cloth is brought alive by deep hollows and sharp, arbitrary folds. The edges of the mantle are artificially turned back to form two broad curving folds suspended in space. This design, which plays with the ornamental and expressive role of the drapery, is specific to German late Gothic sculpture. It is well served by the virtuosity of the carving, to which the soft wood of the linden, used in the southern half of the Empire, is ideally suited. The effect of power combines harmoniously with the delicacy of the modeling, the care given to exact detail and the lively sensitivity of the strong-featured faces.
The attribution to Hoffman
The female type used for the Virgin, the wriggling, chubby Child, and the pattern of the tumbling drapery are found in several Madonnas sculpted in Basel around 1510-20. Stylistically, these works belong in the circle of the sculptor Martin Hoffmann. Heir to the sculptural style of Strasbourg and the Franconian art of Veit Stoff, Hoffmann, who was born in Thuringia, brought a new, expressive, animated style to Basel. The Prophets on the town hall, paid for in 1521, are fine examples. However, as there are no period documents to support it, the attribution of this piece to Martin Hoffman remains hypothetical.
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Guillot de Suduiraut S., Sculptures allemandes de la fin du Moyen Age, dans les collections publiques françaises 1400-1530, cat. expo. Louvre, Paris, 1991, cat.26, pp.119-123.
Guillot de Suduiraut S., La Vierge à l'Enfant d'Issenheim. Un chef-d'oeuvre bâlois de la fin du Moyen Age, Dossiers du musée du Louvre, Paris, 1998.
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