The Zbraslav Madonna (c. 1360) comes from the parish church of St James the Greater in Zbraslav. [1] It is on long-term loan at the permanent exhibition of the National Gallery in Prague.
| Madonna of Zbraslav | |
|---|---|
| Czech: Zbraslavská madona | |
 | |
| Artist | Unknown |
| Year | ca. 1340–1350 |
| Type | Tempera, beech-wood on both sides covered with canvas |
| Dimensions | 89 cm× 60.5 cm(35 in× 23.8 in) |
| Location | National Gallery in Prague |
| Owner | Roman-Catholic deanery in Zbraslav |
The Cistercian abbey in Zbraslav near Prague was founded by king Wenceslaus II in imitation of the royal necropolis of Saint Denis near Paris. Elisabeth of Bohemia, mother of Emperor Charles IV was also buried in the monastery. Although the origin of this picture is not known and its existence is not recorded in any written documents, comparative analyses have shown that it dates from the period between 1350 and 1360. The early character of the engraved drawing and the pentiments that have been revealed prove that it isn’t a later copy. [2] The story that the picture was dedicated to the monastery by its founder Wenceslaus II (1278–1305) dates from the late 18th century. In the past, there was an excerpt of poetry on the rear side of panel, glorifying the Virgin Mary that was misinterpreted by preceding generations of historians. In 1420 the monastery was burned down by the Hussites and the picture was reputedly found two hundred years later in the rubble, restored and exhibited in a newly built church in 1654. Its current state follows restoration in 1945, [3] and in the 1990s old areas of retouching and overpainting were removed.
The picture is painted in tempera on a chalk base with an engraved drawing outlined in black. It is on a lime-wood panel and measures 89 x 59.5 cm. Compared with older Italian-Byzantine models, the drawing is suppressed and the painter models volume using the technique of thin, glazed paint layers of colour gradation in the incarnates. The Madonna has a gold-embroidered white cloak and a blue cloak with green lining decorated with gold stars. The Madonna’s cloak and white veil and the transparent shirt of the child are decorated along their hems with gold embroidery. The crown is decorated with curly leaves. The stones and pearls on the crown, halos, hems and clasp were mounted later on, while the background was also subsequently gilded over. [4] The ring on the Madonna’s finger refers to the mystic betrothal of Christ and Mary that symbolises the Christian Church. This allegorical identification of Mary with the Church is characteristic of the Cistercian context and stems from the preaching of St Bernard of Clairvaux. [5]
In its composition, the picture has much in common with the Madonna of Veveří type and the later Madonna of Rome. At the same time, however, it also repeats several motifs from earlier Marian pictures. Its colour palette recalls the painting of Tomasso da Modena. The motif of the Infant Jesus holding a goldfinch or waxwing (here) was widespread through Italy from the early 14th century and appears in the Rajhrad Breviary of Queen Elizabeth Richeza of Poland. [6] In contrast to the older Italian-Byzantine type of Madonna, the Hodegetria in which the mother presents the child as an object of worship, in this composition there is a tangible shift to a more human and intimate relationship between the mother and child that corresponds more to the ideas of believers around the mid-14th century.
The Zbraslav Madonna was one of the most celebrated Marian pictures in Bohemia. It was originally intended for the church of the Cistercian monastery, where Bohemian kings from the Přemyslid dynasty were buried. Some people believe that Charles IV himself commissioned the picture. [7] The Zbraslav Madonna was greatly revered and there exist many copies of it, dating mainly from the Baroque period. The Zbraslav Madonna was consecrated as the 43rd chapel of the Holy Route from Prague to Mladá Boleslav that was established by the Jesuits between 1674 and 1690.
Czech Gothic architecture refers to the architectural period primarily of the Late Middle Ages in the area of the present-day Czech Republic.
The Třeboň Altarpiece, also known as Wittingau altarpiece, is one of the most important works of European Gothic panel painting. Of the original large altarpiece retable created in about 1380 by an anonymous Gothic painter called the Master of the Třeboň Altarpiece, three wings, painted on both sides, have survived. The altarpiece is one of the works that helped towards the emergence of the International Gothic style and which influenced the development of art in a broad European context.
The sculpture of St. Peter of Slivice comes from the Church of St. Peter in Slivice, founded by Jan of Jenštejn, Archbishop of Prague, in 1362. It ranks among early works by the "Master of the Krumlov Madonna" and is exhibited on loan at the permanent collection of the National Gallery in Prague.
The St. Vitus Madonna comes from the treasure of St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague and is exhibited in its original frame in the permanent collection of the National Gallery in Prague.
The Roudnice Madonna is a work by the Bohemian Master of the Třeboň Altarpiece from the period between 1385 and 1390. It came from the monastery of the Augustinian Canons in Roudnice nad Labem or from the Roudnice summer residence of Archbishop Jan of Jenštejn. The painting has been exhibited since 1946 in the permanent collection of medieval art at the National Gallery in Prague.
The Michle Madonna is the work of an unknown sculptor called the "Master of the Michle Madonna" who probably worked in Brno or Prague during the second third of the 14th century. The name of the sculpture, brought from Brno in 1856, relates to its non-original location in the parish church in Michle from where it was purchased by the National Gallery in Prague.
The Enthroned Madonna of Kłodzko is a Bohemian panel painting dating from 1343 to 1344 that was originally the central part of a larger winged altarpiece. The altarpiece's donor was Archbishop Arnošt of Pardubice, who is portrayed in the bottom left-hand corner.
The Kaufmann Crucifixion is a Bohemian Gothic panel painting by an unknown artist that dates from 1340-1360. It was most probably the central part of a relatively small folding altarpiece.
The Death of the Virgin Mary of Košátky is a Bohemian panel painting from the period around 1340–1350.
The Holy Trinity of Wrocław is a Bohemian panel painting dating from the period around 1350.
The Veveri Madonna, also called the Madonna of Veveri, is an tempera painting by the unknown Moravian, Bohemian artist generally called Master of Vyšší Brod. The altarpiece was commissioned after 1344 by Margrave John Henry of Luxembourg for the romanesque church of Assumption of Our Lady, In the neighborhood of royal Veveří castle in Brno, Moravia, Czech Republic. Exhibited in Diocesan Museum in Brno. The panel was one of the first Madonnas painted by the artist. Albert Kutal a Czech scholar called it "a truly rare and extraordinary work".
The panel painting of The Madonna between St Catherine and St Margaret dating from the period before 1360 most probably formed the central part of a lost altarpiece in the Cistercian Abbey of Zlatá Koruna. It is a key work of early Bohemian Gothic painting. It is on display at the permanent collection of the Aleš South Bohemian Gallery in Hluboká nad Vltavou.
The Vyšší Brod (Hohenfurth) cycle, ranks among the most important monuments of European Gothic painting. It is made up of nine panel paintings depicting scenes from the Life of Christ, covering his childhood, Passion and resurrection. These paintings were made between 1345 and 1350 in the workshop of the Master of Vyšší Brod that was most probably based in Prague. The pictures were either meant for a square altar retable or else they decorated the choir partition of the church of the Cistercian Abbey in Vyšší Brod.
The Adoration of Our Lord from Hluboká is a panel painting dating from the period around 1380, ascribed to the Master of the Třeboň Altarpiece or his workshop. It is on display in the permanent collection of the Aleš South Bohemian Gallery in Hluboká nad Vltavou as a loan from National Heritage Institute in České Budějovice.
The Altarpiece of the Holy Trinity is a work by the Master of the Litoměřice Altarpiece dating from c. 1520. It is on display in the permanent collection of the National Gallery in Prague.
The painting of the Madonna of the Holy Trinity Church is the oldest surviving panel painting in České Budějovice and is one of the oldest known Gothic pictures with a painted frame. It is on display at the permanent collection of Aleš South Bohemian Gallery in Hluboká nad Vltavou.
The Roudnice Altarpiece is a three-part winged altar from the provost's church in Roudnice nad Labem, one of the oldest completely preserved Gothic retables from the period around 1410-1420. It is on display in the permanent exhibition of the National Gallery in Prague.
St George's Altar is a large Gothic altarpiece from the 1460s-70s, originally placed in the St George's Convent at Prague Castle. It belongs to the property of the Metropolitan Chapter of St. Vitus and is on loan to the exhibition of medieval art of the National Gallery in Prague.
Crucifixion from Nové Sady, is part of a larger altar polyptych called the Rajhrad Altarpiece. Its author is the last important personality of Czech panel painting of the pre-Hussite period, known as the Master of the Rajhrad Altarpiece. The painting is on display in the permanent exhibition of the National Gallery in Prague.
The Crucified Christ from the Augustinian monastery church of Saint Giles in Třeboň is one of the most important sculptural monuments from the end of the reign of Charles IV. It was part of a set of sculptures attributed to the Prague workshop of the Master of the Madonna of Žebrák. The statue of the Crucified Christ is on display in the permanent exhibition of the Aleš South Bohemian Gallery in Hluboká nad Vltavou.
