Mourning Madonna in the Princeton University Art Museum, April 2017

German

Mourning Madonna, early 16th century

Wood

61 × 30 × 16.5 cm (24 × 11 13/16 × 6 1/2 in.)

Given in memory of Allan Marquand, Class of 1874, and Mrs. Marquand, by their daughters

y1951-56


Gallery Label

This Mater Dolorosa from a Crucifixion group was probably painted in naturalistic colors, like most German wooden sculpture of the period. In the nineteenth century any remaining paint would have been stripped off and the wood stained a dark brown by a dealer or collector, according to the taste of the time. Unfortunately this later stain cannot be removed. The face, pose, and drapery of the Virgin Mary are inspired by the prints of Albrecht Dürer, and are exemplary of the artist’s widespread influence. The diffusion of Dürer’s style in early-sixteenth-century European art, including sculpture and the decorative arts, was one of the most remarkable results of the revolution of printing and printmaking.

Text from: artmuseum.princeton.edu/collections/objects/24022