The Virgin Mary has blue eyes and golden hair in this head and shoulders detail of a rare 1100s wooden polychrome Virgin Enthroned statue on display in the refectory of the Monastère royal de Brou, founded in the early 1500s at Bourg-en-Bresse, Ain, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France, to house royal tombs of the House of Savoy. Despite damage, the original paint is still bright.
Bourg-en-Bresse, Ain, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France: the Virgin Mary depicted with blue eyes and golden hair in this head and shoulders detail of a rare 12th century wooden polychrome Virgin Enthroned statue displayed with other religious art in the refectory of the Monastère royal de Brou, founded in the early 1500s to house royal tombs of the House of Savoy. The complete artwork depicts the Christ Child, also with blue eyes and golden hair, sitting on his mother’s lap. The statue was originally in a castle chapel near Bourg-en-Bresse. It has sustained significant damage, with the Virgin now missing both of her hands and the left arm of the Infant Jesus ending in a stump. But despite the historic wear and tear, the original paint is still bright after more than eight centuries. The royal monastery was founded in 1506 by Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy (1480-1530), daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. She planned the Augustinian religious complex at Brou as a memorial and dynastic burial-place for her second husband, Philibert II, Duke of Savoy (1480-1504), his mother, Margaret of Bourbon, and herself. The trio are buried in the abbey church, the Église Saint-Nicolas-de-Tolentin de Brou, a masterpiece of ornate Flamboyant Gothic architecture built between 1506 and 1532. The richly ornamented mausoleums carved by the German-born Late Gothic and Renaissance sculptor Conrad Meit (1480-1551) have avoided the destruction suffered by royal tombs elsewhere in France. In the early 15th century, Bourg-en-Bresse was the capital of the dukes of Savoy and of the ancient province of Bresse. It was conquered by France in 1535, but was restored to Savoy in 1559. A strong citadel built by a later duke withstood a six-month French siege, but the town was finally ceded to France in 1601. The monastery now belongs to the town of Bourg-en-Bresse and is home to the municipal art collection.
Size: 2592px × 3872px
Location: Monastère royal de Brou, Bourg-en-Bresse, Ain, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France.
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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