Upper Rhenish School, circa 1490

Collection Karl Meisenhelder, Frankfurt;
Thence by descent to Mrs. Doris Hallbauer, Munich;
Thence by descent to the present owner.

 

The actual painting is slightly less blue and a little more green in tone than the catalogue illustration suggests. The single panel has been cradled. A repaired and retouched crack is visible in the upper and lower left corner, and another one is visible along the right edge. Small retouched paint losses are visible along the cracks and to the centre right, and there's a minor tendency towards cupping in these areas. A few tiny retouchings can be observed in the gold ground upper left, in the draperies of the figures on the right, and in the drapery of Christ. The paint surface is under a lucid and uneven layer of varnish. Inspection under Ultra-Violet light confirms the aforementioned retouchings, and reveals additional tiny ones in the draperies of the figures seated on the bench and in Christ's throne. Offered in a plain parcel-gilt wood frame, with a few paint losses. (MW)
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Depicted here is a passage from the New Testament (Luke 2:4-52) in which the twelve year old Jesus is debating with the Jewish scribes in the Temple of Solomon. This scene is the third of the Seven Sorrows of the Virgin Mary, and therefore she is represented with a sword in her upper body.