Madonna of Veveří
The Madonna von Veveří (German Madonna von Eichhorn ) is an early Gothic panel painting that is now in the Diocesan Museum of Brno . The well in the South Bohemia and South Moravia active, unnamed artists who painted in 1350 the image of the Madonna with the infant Jesus, received his provisional names Master of the Madonna of Eichhorn in the image, which was originally in the chapel of the South Moravian castle Veveří was .
Story of the picture
The picture is mentioned for the first time in the parish chronicle, which has been preserved from the years after the end of the Thirty Years' War . It is believed that the Moravian margrave Johann Heinrich von Luxemburg , a brother of Emperor Charles IV , brought the work of art to Eichhorn. In the course of the Josephine reforms , the picture was to be handed over to the Eichhorn Bittischka parish church ( Veverská Bítýška ) in 1791 , but it is mentioned unchanged as an altarpiece in the chapel in 1794. After being shown at an exhibition in Brno in 1936, it was brought to Prague for restoration and exhibited in the National Gallery in Prague after the turmoil of the war . In sensational judicial proceedings extending over several instances to the Supreme Court, the Eichhorn Bittischka parish was confirmed as the rightful owner, who left it on loan to the diocese of Brno . Since March 2016, the work of art has been shown in the Diocesan Museum Brno as part of the Vita Christi show. The high artistic importance was taken into account, since 2016 the Gothic work of art has been designated as a national cultural monument of the Czech Republic .
Description of the artwork
The master of the Madonna von Eichhorn painted the large-format picture in the new style of his time coming from Italy, a style that was still strongly influenced by Byzantine art . The picture is painted in tempera on a chalk base , which is applied to a pine board . It measures 79.5 by 62.5 cm. The picture follows e.g. B. a strict formal language of the icons and represents the ideal image of the crowned Madonna and Child in colors reminiscent of enamel and abundant gold, but also borrows from French panel painting in the execution of the crown and clothing .
The color scheme is strongly influenced by Christian symbolism, the royal red coat, together with the crown, indicates Mary as Queen, which is lined with blue as a symbol of faith and heaven (in strict Byzantine iconography, a blue dress would be painted, here the medieval artist takes his liberty). The white cloth symbolizes physical and mental purity. The type is executed as Maria Hodegetria , but Christ is not only presented for adoration, but the tender relationship of the mother to her son is also in the focus of the painter. The goldfinch in the boy's hand indicates the coming suffering of Christ, according to legend, the red head of the bird is soaked in the blood of Jesus when he tore a thorn from the crown of thorns of the sufferer. The New Jerusalem is symbolically anticipated in the gold of the background . In contrast to the strict Byzantine iconography, a preliminary drawing of the contours was dispensed with in the execution, and the outlines are comparatively little emphasized.
Created during the reign of the King of Bohemia and later Roman-German Emperor Charles IV, the work is an example of the worship of the Madonna promoted by Charles in his kingdom. Devotional pictures in the style of the Madonna von Eichhorn became the starting point for the Bohemian pictures of the Virgin Mary and their influence on other painters outside the region. The new style of this direction, sometimes referred to as the Bohemian School of Painting , can be seen as an influencing factor in innovations in painting throughout the Roman-German Empire.
The style of the master of the Madonna von Eichhorn can also be found in the pictures of other masters in Bohemia, such as those of the master of Hohenfurth and those of the master of the Kaufmann's crucifixion , which are sometimes equated with the master by comparing styles.
A Gothic mural of a Madonna and Child in the chapel of Eichhorn Castle could also come from the master of the Madonna von Eichhorn .
literature
- A. Kutal: Gothic Art in Bohemia and Moravia . London 1971
- R. Suckale, M. Wundram, IF Walther: Painting of the world. An art history in 900 image analyzes. Volume I: From Gothic to Classicism . Cologne 1995
- R. Suckale, M. Wundram, IF Walther: Masterpieces of Western Art: A History of Art in 900 Individual Studies from the Gothic to the Present Day (Part 1 From Gothic to Neoclassicism) . Cologne 2002, p. 45