A statue of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus venerated at the church in Strobierna (right) southern Poland, turns out to be a missing sculpture from Veit Stoss altarpiece in Krakow.
The discovery was confirmed by Professor Piotr Skubiszewski from the University of Warsaw, an expert in Veit Stoss art. “There are certain similarities between the statue of the Virgin Mary and the figure of St. John from St. Mary’s Basilica in Krakow,” says Professor Skubiszewski.
The statue from Strobierna in the south-eastern region of Podkarpacie is the only such sculpture by Veit Stoss, a renowned Bavarian sculptor whose art covered the transition between the late Gothic and the Northern Renaissance and who is best known for the altarpiece in St. Mary’s Basilica in Krakow.
Originally the statue was a part of St. Simon and Jude the Apostle altar in the same basilica.
The statue was commissioned in 1494 and cost only 150 florins (the main altar in St. Mary’s Basilica was worth 2,088 florins.) The Virgin Mary and infant Christ was brought to Strobierna in 1891 and placed in a Neo-gothic church. “In mid 18th century, when Baroque became a dominant style, churches got rid of many older sculptures,” explains Inga Platowska-Sapetowa, art historian who was the first to relate the statue to Veit Stoss. (mg)
Source: PAP