The Virgin Mary

History of creation

The sculpture comes from the main altar of the Church of All Saints in the village of Hodowica. The temple was designed by the architect Bernard Meretyn. The sculpture was created at the end of 1750s, probably in 1757-1759.

Description of the sculpture

The dynamic tilt of the covered head, emotional expression of the face, expressive turn of the left hand with a drape that wipes a tear from the cheek are characteristic. The dress and handkerchief are curved out flatly and trimmed, with an emphasis on geometric folds. Such an approach can later be seen in stereometric explorations in cubism, an avant-garde artistic movement of the early twentieth century. In this work, Pinsel impressively contrasts the grotesquely carved wrists, the head on the lengthened neck and the right foot with the tumultuous disorder of the drapes. To express the idea more distinctively, he realistically and colourfully draws the open parts of the body, and the vestment is decorated with gilding. It is worth paying attention to the portraitlike face of the Virgin Mary. Perhaps in this work, the sculptor depicted his wife Mariana Elizabeth, with whom he was married for over 5 years and had a son – Bernard.