CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF RABENDEN (ACTIVE CIRCA 1500-1530), GERMAN, BAVARIA, CIRCA 1510-1515 | VIRGIN AND CHILD

This beautiful group is distinguished by the extraordinary charm and animation exhibited by the Christ Child. Proffering a bunch of grapes, the Child greets the viewer with an infantile and seemingly spontaneous smile. Stylistically, the group is remarkably close to the work of the Master of Rabenden, who led a successful workshop in Bavaria, based in and around Munich. The Virgin's hair and facial type, with a small mouth and high forehead, compare to the Virgin of Mercy by the master in Fischbachau (Niehoff, op. cit., fig. 16). Her contrapposto and drapery scheme, with a generous swathe running vertically across the legs, and crinkled folds above the protruding knee, are mirrored by the Virgin of the Unterölkofen Altar in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum (inv. no. R 8835). A further comparison not only for the facial type of the Virgin, but also for the diminutive features of the Child, is found in an Anna Selbdritt group attributed to the master sold at Neumeister, Munich, on 19 May 2010 (lot 1). The present group's quality of carving in all details, and its striking naturalistic observation, indicate an origin in the immediate circle of the master, if not his own workshop. 

RELATED LITERATURE

T. Müller, Die Bildwerke in Holz, Ton und Stein von der Mitte des XV. bis gegen Mitte des XVI. Jahrhunderts, cat. Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich, 1959, p. 234; F. Niehoff (ed.), Um Leinberger: Schüler und Zeitgenossen, exh. cat. Spitalkirche Heiliggeist, Landshut, 2006, pp. 88-101