Virgin And Child: Master Of The Dangolshiemer Madonna

South German art in the Renaissance, like all styles, embodied its own characteristics and intentions. Attributes such as religious authority were portrayed within the skilled, meticulous manner in which many paintings and sculptures were produced. A sculpture, entitled Virgin and Child, created by a follower the Master of the Dangolsheimer Madonna, exemplifies the popularity of religiously based artwork of the time, particularly of the Virgin Mary and the child Christ, as well as the shared techniques of the Northern Renaissance. Although much of the art created within the Northern Renaissance was unclearly intended for a private or secular use, certain works withheld a more vast, universal mantle throughout the culture. The artist clearly
While Martin Luther was leading the Protestant Reformation, southern Germany remained mostly Catholic and was less affected by the religious exploitation, explaining the artist’s obvious time and effort spent on skillful sculpture (Janson 635). A new “International Style” came about in the early 15th century, and figures were depicted long and graceful with “gold decoration” and “abstract ornamentation,” bearing resemblances to the style of Virgin and Child ("15th and Early 16th-Century Germany”). By mid-century, art became more naturalistic. While obviously a religious work, Virgin and Child is also a model of South German
The interest in fellow artists, though in different mediums, of the religious subject of the serene rule of the Virgin Mary and Christ evidences that the artist of Virgin and Child truly aimed to prove the significance of the subjects in the current culture. The subject and style is also comparative to the work of famous German artist Matthias Grunewald. In his Madonna and Child with Angels panel from the second view of the Isenheim Altarpiece, Grunewald portrays a loving embrace between Mary, draped in red and blue with highlights of gold in a clasp and in her hair, and the baby Jesus (Janson 636). Like Virgin and Child, the painting depicts heavy drapery and long, soft, simple facial features. Both works are representative of South German art and the purity and serenity of Mary and her baby son. In essence, like other art of the time, the sculpture was deliberately created to represent the holiness of the its subjects and its significance upon the