Virgin and Child

This limewood statue of the Virgin and Child was made in Austria, perhaps Salzburg, in about 1480. At the time of acquisition this status was classified as Tyrolese, early 16th, but this is probably incorrect. A figure of a female saint, perhaps St. Barbara, formerly in the collection of Dr. Peter Hierzenberger of Vienna, and another Virgin and Child in the collection of the Kunstmuseum, Kloster Unser Lieben Frauen, Magdeburg, show similar drapery schemes and facial types. The stylistic formula points to a workshop in Salzburg rather than to the Tyrol, and all these figures can be closely related to the figures of a Standing Virgin and Child, St. Barbara and St. Margaret in the church in Fridolfing, of about 1480. The high forehead of the present virgin is also comparable with the similar physiognomy of a figure of St. Catherine of about 1500-1010, ascribed by Müller to a workshop in Salzburg.