Swabian carver (active around 1470 in Ulm) Enthroned Beautiful Madonna Limewood carved three-quarters round, flattened and heavily hollowed on the back. Large parts of the original polychrome paint and gilding preserved, partially overpainted. Composed depiction of the crowned Madonna seated on a simple throne bench from below. Over her high-gartered red dress, Mary wears a blue and gold cloak draped over her shoulders and over her knees. The naked child sits on her right knee, which she embraces with her right hand in loving, motherly affection; in her left hand she presents a pomegranate as a symbol of the Passion. Stylistically still in the Soft Style, this is an artistically outstanding sculpture of museum quality. The incarnation of mother and child, fortunately largely preserved in the original, with the typical reddened cheeks, shows the extraordinarily masterful hand of the painter and emphasises the kind and delicate expression of the two. The attempt to create a great closeness to the viewer, the believer, emerges from the Beautiful Style around 1400 and, as this Madonna illustrates, can still be felt at the end of the century. The enthroned Madonna (1490-1500) in the Metropolitan Museum New York (The Cloisters Collection, inv. no. 2010.446), which is associated with the Kefermarkt Altarpiece, which was also created at the end of the 15th century, also possesses such a warm-hearted gaze. The structure, style and finish are reminiscent of the sculptures of famous carvers from the Ulm region, such as Jörg Stein (worked around 1470), Michel Erhart (1440/45-after 1522) and Jörg Syrlin the Elder (1425-1491). The Saint Catherine by Jörg Stein (workshop), which was created in Ulm around 1470 (Museum of the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, inv. no. 1.284), should be mentioned in this context. Jesus as the playful child reveals the formative influences of a previous generation, above all Hans Multscher (1400-1467). Rest; total h. 128 cm. Figure h. 116 cm. Lit. Marienbild in Rheinland und Westfalen: Exhibition, 14 June - 22 Sept. 1968, in Villa Hügel, Essen (exhibition cat.), p. 95, ill. 95 (Rhenish private ownership). South German sculptor active circa 1470. Carved limewood sculpture of the Enthroned Madonna and Child with pomegranate. Mostly old or original polychromy painting and gilding.