Blutenburger Madonna

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Blutenburg Madonna in the Blutenburg Palace Chapel

The Blutenburg Madonna in the Blutenburg Palace Chapel is a representation of Mary from the Gothic period . It is one of the most important works of the Bavarian late Gothic.

Creator

An unknown master, who probably belonged to the circle of Erasmus Grasser , created this and probably some other Blutenburg wooden figures around 1490. Various speculations have been made about his identity.

In Joseph Dippel's handbook of aesthetics and the history of the fine arts you can read: “These elaborate wood carvings in Blutenburg are characterized by lively sensation, variety of characteristics and fine dressing. In the beauty of the face and hand treatment, in the intimacy and delicacy of the emotional expression, however, the Madonna turned to the Savior surpasses the other statues. ”In this work, Dippel compares the Blutenburg Madonna with the Madonna of Gnadenberg near Altdorf and provides“ strange features of similarity between these works of the Franconian and Bavarian Sculpture School ”.

Wilhelm Bode describes the 14 wooden figures donated by Duke Siegmund in 1496 in the Blutenburg Chapel - in addition to the figure of Mary, there are also depictions of Christ and the twelve apostles - as probably the "best known and most excellent sculptures in Bavaria" and highlights the Madonna among them once extra. She is "probably the most beautiful of all these figures", is a testimony to a "very unusual sense of beauty that is united here with the depth of sensation" and stands out not only over Bavarian art, but also over all German art of this era out.

The Munich sculptor Markus Haldner is sometimes considered to be the creator of the Blutenburg wooden figures.

description

The standing Madonna without Child is attached to the back wall of the palace chapel to the left of the altar in such a way that it faces the sacrament house. She keeps her head tilted slightly and has her hands together in prayer. She wears a blue undergarment and a golden cloak with red inside and rich folds that covers her head and envelops her feet. In a recent travel guide she is referred to as the image of "a benevolent, pious citizen's wife".

theft

The Madonna was located in the Blutenburg Palace Chapel from its foundation until it was stolen in January 1971. The three perpetrators were sentenced to several years in prison in February 1972. The names of the perpetrators were published eight years later in Johann Freudenreich's book Bayerische Spitzbuben . The thieves, who were meanwhile back in custody for similar offenses, filed a lawsuit against the publisher and were successful at the Higher Regional Court : For reasons of privacy protection , the book may no longer be distributed in this form.

Freudenreich described the case as follows: Late in the evening of January 20, 1971, Karl-Heinz G. and Peter M. penetrated the Blutenburg Palace Chapel through a window, the bolt of which had been pushed back a few days before during a visit to the chapel. The head of the gang, Bernd V., waited outside the building to receive the loot. In addition to the Blutenburg Madonna, the perpetrators stole two angel, one Christ and one Mary half-figure. V. then transported the figures in his car. It is not known where he first placed them. About a month after the theft, he phoned the actor Walter Sedlmayr , whom he had met at the Oktoberfest in 1970, to ask if he could deposit his belongings in his attic. Sedlmayr allowed him to do so without knowing what the package contained. After the art thieves had learned from the press that the Blutenburg Madonna would hardly be sold on the illegal art market because of its high profile, they decided to offer the statue to the Free State of Bavaria for 300,000 DM instead . V. therefore contacted his lawyer Klaus von Schirach . He agreed to V. to act as an intermediary in the planned transaction, but at the same time informed the police. The negotiations were unsuccessful, however, as Baron Levin von Gumppenberg , President of the Bavarian Palace Administration, did not offer the thieves more than DM 100,000. The negotiations were then discontinued without the lawyer having revealed the name of his client. Regardless of this action, however, there were meanwhile suspicions against V., who was arrested on March 21, 1971 and shortly afterwards made a confession. From the police headquarters he called Sedlmayr and informed him that the Blutenburg Madonna and the other stolen figures were in his house in Feldmoching . He promised the actor that he would have the Madonna picked up immediately without mentioning the celebrity's name to the police. In fact, V's girlfriend picked up the stolen goods from Sedlmayr and handed them over to lawyer Rolf Bossi . V., however, did not keep his promise not to incriminate Sedlmayr, but rather told the police that the actor had instigated him to steal and that he was trading in stolen goods. Sedlmayr was then taken into custody; his collection of sacred figures was reviewed. It took two years for the actor to be rehabilitated. A side effect of these incidents was that Sedlmayr got to know the prototype of the incorruptible policeman in the criminalist Hans Lindinger, who was entrusted with the investigation, after whose model he later designed his roles when he had to act as a policeman in front of the camera.

Web links

Commons : Blutenburger Madonna  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Joseph Dippel: Handbuch der Aesthetik und der Geschichte der Bildenden Künste , Regensburg 1871, p. 523 ( preview in the Google book search)
  2. ^ Wilhelm Bode: History of German sculpture , reprint of Salzwasser-Verlag 2012, ISBN 978-3-86444-206-3 , p. 194
  3. ↑ Lydia L. Dewiel: Upper Bavaria: Art and landscape between the Altmühltal and the Alps , DuMont travel publishing, Ostfildern, 6th Edition 2011, ISBN 978-3-7701-3335-2 , page 166 ( preview in Google Book Search)
  4. ↑ Brief description of the Madonna , accessed on January 31, 2017
  5. ↑ Lilian Schacherl and Josef H. Biller: ADAC Travel Guide Audio Munich , ADAC Verlag 2008, ISBN 978-3-89905-625-9 , p. 139 ( preview in Google book search)
  6. ↑ Walter Rothes: The Madonna in Her Glorification by the Fine Arts , Dogma-Verlag 2012, ISBN 978-3-95507-218-6 , p. 91 ( preview in Google book search)
  7. ↑ Wia da Deifi in: Der Spiegel 12/1973, March 19, 1973, pp. 70-75
  8. ^ Udo Branahl: Media Law. An introduction , Wiesbaden 6th edition 2009, ISBN 978-3-531-16558-5 , p. 200 ( preview in Google book search)
  9. ^ Johann Freudenreich: Bavarian rascals. Gallery of gold makers, poachers, quacks and other villains of today and in the past , Nymphenburger 1979, ISBN 3-485-00373-5 , pp. 11-21