Workshop of Hans Gieng (active circa 1505-1562) Swiss, Fribourg, circa 1530-1535

by repute from Schaffhausen, Switzerland;
with Baron Karl von Mayenfisch;
European noble family

S. Gasser et al., Die Freiburger Skulptur des 16. Jahrhunderts. Herstellung, Funktion und Auftraggeberschaft, Petersberg, 2011, vol. I, p. 144, fig. 151 and vol. II, pp. 382-385, no. 183

Overall the condition of the sculpture is good with minor dirt and wear to the surface consistent with age. There is minor non-active worming to the wood. There is stable splitting to the wood, including to the Virgin's face (especially under the proper right eye) and to her drapery, particularly on the proper left side. The sculpture is composed in sections and original joints are visible, notably at Christ's arms, of which the proper left arm is a little loose. There are some filled restorations, including to Christ's proper left hip and back. There are also some original wood inserts and plugs, including in the drapery by the collar on the proper left side, and a plug in Christ's proper right palm. There are some small losses, including to the Virgin's hair, the bottom tip of the moon, and to three of Christ's fingers on his proper right hand. There are some filled naturally occurring knots and lacunae, in particular in the Virgin's drapery under the proper right arm. The base is associated.
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Having become a Free Imperial City in 1478, Fribourg rose to prominence around 1500 as an important trading hub for leather and textiles. Newly wealthy families and an ever expanding group of major monasteries formed the ideal patrons for thriving sculptor’s and painter’s workshops. Most carved altarpieces were executed in the workshops of Hans Geiler and Hans Gieng, who, like several contemporary sculptors elsewhere in the German speaking countries, were prominent citizens. Geiler was active in the city from 1513 to 1534 and developed a local style characterised by a certain melancholy, naturalism and a penchant for traditionally arranged heavy drapery. Several of his Madonnas, such as those in Estavayer and St. Antoni  (see Gasser, op.cit., nos. 152 and 153), compare well to the present statue. Particularly the pipe-folds of drapery that flow onto the base, full lips, and sharp, dimpled chin are typical of Geiler’s work. The varied treatment of the sweeping but contained drapery and classicising approach to the torso, however, show the more developed style of Hans Gieng who entered Fribourg around 1523 and absorbed the local style, combining it with more subtle Renaissance influences.  The drapery of Gieng’s St. Anne for the Annenbrunnen in Freiburg of 1559-1560 (Gasser, op.cit., no. 229) is particularly similar. According to Gasser’s entry on the present sculpture in the seminal 2011 exhibition on 16^th-century sculpture from Fribourg, the many inserts and additions joined onto the figure are a technical feature associated with Gieng’s workshop. (op.cit., p. 382)