| Date | 1409 |
|---|---|
| Object type | panel painting |
| Medium, technique | pine-wood, oil-egg tempera, gilt |
| Dimensions | image: 89 × 78 × 5.5 cm |
| Inventory number | 52.656 |
| Collection | Old Hungarian Collection |
| On view | Hungarian National Gallery Building D, Ground Floor, Church Adornments – Gothic Art in the Hungarian Kingdom, 1300 – 1500 |
Perhaps made for the western territory of the Hungarian Kingdom, the foremost intention of this now fragmentary painting was to create an awe-inspiring image of Maria Gravida, the Virgin Mary pregnant with Jesus. This interpretation is confirmed by the brush drawing on the Virgin’s belly of Jesus in a foetal position, surrounded by a mandorla, holding a great cross on His right shoulder, which was never actually painted.
This work was probably a self-standing panel painting or the central section of an altarpiece which presumably served as the focus for personal religious contemplation in a church. Its artist can be identified with the founder and first major individual of the great Viennese workshop from the beginning of the 15th century. During the remodelling of the painting, presumably due to the decree passed by the Council of Trent in 1563, they removed the section, originally on the left side, showing Saint Joseph’s doubts, from which the straw hat tied to the stick and the little barrel along with the red drapery and halo can still be seen on the edge of the painting.
Radocsay, Dénes, A középkori Magyarország táblaképei, Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1955.
Tóth, Sándor – Tóth, Melinda – Marosi, Ernő, Mikó, Árpád – Takács, Imre (eds.), Pannonia regia: Művészet a Dunántúlon 1000-1541, A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria kiadványai 1994/3, Magyar Nemzeti Galéria, Budapest, 1994.
This record is subject to revision due to ongoing research.
