AN IMPORTANT MEDIEVAL SCULPTURE OF VIRGIN AND CHILD Rhenish, late 13th century H. 108 cm Oakwood, the upper part carved in full round, deeply hollowed back up to the shoulder, the bottom reinforced with a square board and closed at the back with a board for an all-round view. The 19th century polychromy probably by W. Mengelberg, Utrecht/Aachen. Fingers of the right hand are missing, additions and restorations. The actual polychromy was restoratively removed in a small "window" below the right arm and an older primer respectively the wood was exposed. Old German Aristocratic property, in the family since the late 19th century, Rimburg Castle near Aachen Dendrochronological examination by Prof. Dr. Peter Klein, University of Hamburg from October 7, 2021. The sculpture is published with an illustration in: Kunstdenkmäler der Rheinprovinz, Paul Clemen, Die Kunstdenkmäler der Landkreise Aachen und Eupen, 1912, S. 168 ff., p. 175, fig. 144.; Robert Suckale in: Kölner Domblatt, Jahrbuch des Zentralrats-Dombau-Vereins 1979/80, S. 223 ff., fig. 9 (p.232) An early Gothic Madonna, whose temporal classification is beyond any doubt, can be regarded as a rare surprise on the current art market. The stylistic influence of French figures from the middle of the 13th century is obvious; Robert Suckale describes it in detail in the Kölner Domblatt; he sees a Madonna by Delincourt (Dep. Oise) as the closest relative, but admits that at this time it is extremely difficult to distinguish between French (Paris) and Rhineland, including what in the late 13th century safe dating is concerned. The provenance of the piece before it came to Rimburg has not yet been proven. Johanna von Brauchitsch, who with her husband at the end of the 19th century takes over the castle, was considered a passionate collector who furnished her new home with a considerable and highly regarded art collection. It can therefore be assumed that during this time both our early Madonna statue and a late Gothic Annunciation Madonna of the "Meister der von Carbenschen Gedächtnisstiftung" (Cologne) came to Rimburg (see cat. no. 2796). However, it is documented that from around 1885 the sculptor and restoration workshop Friedrich Wilhelm Mengelberg (Utrecht / Aachen, active until around 1920) worked on various objects of art in the castle (including the late Gothic carved altar) and provided them with a "modern polychromy" (P. Clemen). It is very likely that our Madonna, if you compare the old and new images, also met this fate. In a letter from October 1979, Robert Suckale (in preparation for his essay in the Kölner Domblatt) asked for a new photo of the figure. It can be assumed that he also got one, only now the figure with the new polychromy was hardly usable for stylistic comparisons and so he had to be content with the old photo from 1912 (see Abb./fig. 1) Sceptres and crowns (of the child and Mary) are lost, although here, too, it is questionable whether they were original pieces. Despite the new polychromy, the figure presents itself with a slight S-curve and restrained leaning back, in a strict, credible statuary. The convincingly modeled folds that accumulate from the plinth to the girdle give the sculpture, which is mainly defined by the drapery, strength. Even her amiable friendliness (the smile of the Angel of Reims!), the essence of her charisma, has not completely lost after the "modernization". Despite the later polychromy, certain structures such as for example, the hair can still be seen very well, which we find in an almost identical form on a Madonna Enthroned from the art history collections of the Diocese of Aachen (polychromy removed from that figure). (Lit. H.P. Hilger / E. Willemsen, Farbige Bildwerke des Mittelalters im Rheinland, Bonn 1967, fig. 10). (see Abb./fig. 2) Lit.: Willibald Sauerländer; Gotische Skulptur in Frankreich 1140-1270, 1970; Robert Suckale; Das mittelalterliche Bild als Zeitzeuge, sechs Studien, 2002.