The Zbraslav Madonna (c. 1360) comes from the parish church of St James the Greater in
Zbraslav
Zbraslav (; german: Königsaal; Latin ''Aula Regia'') is a municipal district and cadastral area of Prague. The southernmost district of Prague, it lies on the Vltava River in the national administrative district of Prague 16.
The former indepe ...
.
[Royt 2003, p.62] It is on long-term loan at the permanent exhibition of the
National Gallery in Prague
The National Gallery Prague ( cz, Národní galerie Praha, NGP), formerly the National Gallery in Prague (), is a state-owned art gallery in Prague, which manages the largest collection of art in the Czech Republic and presents masterpieces of Cze ...
.
History of the painting
The
Cistercian abbey in
Zbraslav
Zbraslav (; german: Königsaal; Latin ''Aula Regia'') is a municipal district and cadastral area of Prague. The southernmost district of Prague, it lies on the Vltava River in the national administrative district of Prague 16.
The former indepe ...
near
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
was founded by king
Wenceslaus II in imitation of the royal
necropolis of
Saint Denis near
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
.
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. 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
The Hussites ( cs, Husité or ''Kališníci''; "Chalice People") were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, who became the best known representative of the Bohemian Reformation.
The Huss ...
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, and in the 1990s old areas of retouching and overpainting were removed.
Description and context
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. 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
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* C ...
is characteristic of the
Cistercian context and stems from the preaching of
St Bernard of Clairvaux.
![MadonaZbraslavskaBrkoslav](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/MadonaZbraslavskaBrkoslav.jpg)
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
The Christ Child, also known as Divine Infant, Baby Jesus, Infant Jesus, the Divine Child, Child Jesus, the Holy Child, Santo Niño, and to some as Señor Noemi refers to Jesus Christ from his nativity to age 12.
The four canonical gospels, a ...
holding a goldfinch or
waxwing
The waxwings are three species of passerine birds classified in the genus ''Bombycilla''. They are pinkish-brown and pale grey with distinctive smooth plumage in which many body feathers are not individually visible, a black and white eyestripe, ...
(here) was widespread through Italy from the early 14th century and appears in the Rajhrad Breviary of Queen
Elizabeth Richeza of Poland
Elizabeth Richeza of Poland ( cs, Eliška-Rejčka; pl, Ryksa-Elżbieta; 1 September 1288 – 19 October 1335), was a Polish princess member of the House of Piast and by her two marriages Queen consort of Bohemia and Poland and Duchess consor ...
. In contrast to the older Italian-Byzantine type of Madonna, the
Hodegetria
A Hodegetria , ; russian: Одиги́трия, Odigítria ; Romanian: Hodighitria, or Virgin Hodegetria, is an iconographic depiction of the Theotokos (Virgin Mary) holding the Child Jesus at her side while pointing to him as the source of s ...
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
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...
, where Bohemian kings from the
Přemyslid dynasty
The Přemyslid dynasty or House of Přemyslid ( cs, Přemyslovci, german: Premysliden, pl, Przemyślidzi) was a Bohemian royal dynasty that reigned in the Duchy of Bohemia and later Kingdom of Bohemia and Margraviate of Moravia (9th century–130 ...
were buried. Some people believe that
Charles IV himself commissioned the picture.
[Matějček A, Pešina J, 1950, s. 60] 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
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
to
Mladá Boleslav
Mladá Boleslav (; german: Jungbunzlau) is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 42,000 inhabitants.
Mladá Boleslav is the second most populated city in the region and a major centre of the Czech automotive in ...
that was established by the
Jesuits
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders = ...
between 1674 and 1690.
Notes
References
*
Jiří Fajt, Štěpánka Chlumská, Čechy a střední Evropa 1220-1550, Národní galerie v Praze 2014, , pp. 24–28
* Jiří Fajt, Jan Royt: ''České gotické umění'',
Karolinum Press
Karolinum Press is the university press of Charles University in Prague. It was established in 1990, and it has published over 5000 titles since then. Its English-language books are distributed globally by University of Chicago Press, and its e-bo ...
, Praha 2002
* Jan Royt, ''Medieval Painting in Bohemia'',
Karolinum Press
Karolinum Press is the university press of Charles University in Prague. It was established in 1990, and it has published over 5000 titles since then. Its English-language books are distributed globally by University of Chicago Press, and its e-bo ...
, Praha 2003
* Jaroslav Pešina: Česká gotická malba, Odeon, Praha 1972
* Antonín Matějček, Jaroslav Pešina, Česká malba gotická, Melantrich, Praha 1950, pp. 58–61
External links
{{Commons category, Madona zbraslavská, Madonna of Zbraslav
National Gallery never closes: Madonna of Veveří, Madonna of Zbraslav, CTV 2012
Gothic paintings
Czech gothic paintings
1340s paintings
Paintings of the Madonna and Child
Paintings in the collection of the National Gallery Prague