Madonna of Bruges

Madonna and Child

Artist	Michelangelo
Year	1501-1504
Type	Marble
Dimensions	200 cm (79 in)
Location	Onze Lieve Vrouwekerk, Bruges
Coordinates	Coordinates: 51°12′17″N 3°13′28″E / 51.20472°N 3.22444°E / 51.20472; 3.22444

The statue being recovered from the Altaussee salt mine

The Madonna of Bruges is a marble sculpture by Michelangelo of Mary with the Child Jesus.

Michelangelo's depiction of the Madonna and Child differs significantly from earlier representations of the same subject, which tended to feature a pious Virgin smiling down on an infant held in her arms. Instead, Jesus stands upright, almost unsupported, only loosely restrained by Mary's left hand, and appears to be about to step away from his mother. Meanwhile, Mary does not cling to her son or even look at him, but gazes down and away. It is believed the work was originally intended for an altar piece. If this is so, then it would have been displayed facing slightly to the right and looking down.

Madonna and Child shares certain similarities with Michelangelo's Pietà, which was completed shortly before--mainly, the chiaroscuro effect and movement of the drapery. The long, oval face of Mary is also reminiscent of the Pietà.

The work is also notable in that it was the only sculpture by Michelangelo to leave Italy during his lifetime. It was bought by Giovanni and Alessandro Moscheroni (Mouscron), from a family of wealthy cloth merchants in Bruges, then one of the leading commercial cities in Europe. The sculpture was sold for 4,000 florin.

The sculpture was removed twice from Belgium after its initial arrival. The first was in 1794, after French Revolutionaries had conquered the Austrian Netherlands during the French Revolutionary Wars; the citizens of Bruges were ordered to ship it and several other valuable works of art to Paris. It was returned after Napoleon's final defeat at Waterloo in 1815. The second removal was in 1944, during World War II, with the retreat of German soldiers, who smuggled the sculpture to Germany enveloped in mattresses in a Red Cross truck.^[1] It was discovered a year later in Altaussee/Austria and again returned. It now sits in the Church of Our Lady in Bruges, Belgium. This is part of the fact-based movie The Monuments Men.

After the attack on Michelangelo's Pietà in 1972, the sculpture was placed behind bulletproof glass, and the public can only view it from 15 feet away.

References

↑ Kurtz, Michael J. (2006). America and the return of Nazi contraband. Cambridge University Press. p. 30.

Michelangelo

List of works
Key: *Attributed, †Lost

Sculptures

Florence, c. 1488–1492	†Head of a Faun Madonna of the Stairs Battle of the Centaurs Crucifix

Bologna, 1494–1495	Additions to the Arca di San Domenico (St Petronius, St Proclus, Angel)

Rome, 1496–1500	†Sleeping Cupid Bacchus †Standing Cupid Pietà

Florence, 1501–1505	David Madonna of Bruges Additions to the Piccolomini Altarpiece (Saints Peter, Paul, Pius and Gregory) Pitti Tondo Taddei Tondo St. Matthew

Tomb of Pope Julius II, 1505–1545	Moses Rebellious Slave Dying Slave Young Slave Bearded Slave Atlas Slave Awakening Slave The Genius of Victory Rachel Leah

Florence, 1516–1534	Christ Carrying the Cross Medici Chapel Giuliano de' Medici Night Day Dusk Dawn Medici Madonna Apollo Crouching Boy

Rome, 1534–1564	Brutus Florentine Pietà *Palestrina Pietà Rondanini Pietà

Paintings

Panel paintings	The Torment of Saint Anthony Manchester Madonna The Entombment Doni Tondo †Leda and the Swan

Salone dei Cinquecento	†Battle of Cascina

Sistine Chapel	Ceiling The Last Judgment

Cappella Paolina	The Martyrdom of St Peter

Architecture

Florence	New Sacristy and Laurentian Library in the Basilica of San Lorenzo

Rome	Piazza del Campidoglio Palazzo Farnese St. Peter's Basilica San Giovanni dei Fiorentini Porta Pia Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri

Works on paper	Study of a Kneeling Nude Girl for The Entombment Epifania

Milieu	Cecchino dei Bracci Tommaso dei Cavalieri Vittoria Colonna Ascanio Condivi Gherardo Perini Sebastiano del Piombo Febo di Poggio Luigi del Riccio

Related	Art patronage of Julius II Casa Buonarroti Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects Replicas of David Replicas of the Pietà Restoration of the Sistine Chapel frescoes

Wikimedia	Michelangelo at Wikimedia Commons Michelangelo at Wikiquote

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 6/6/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.

Madonna of Bruges

See also

References