Darmstadt Madonna

Darmstadt madonna
German: Darmstädter Madonna
ArtistHans Holbein the Younger
Year1526–1530
MediumOil on wood
Dimensions146.5 cm × 102 cm (57.7 in × 40 in)

The Darmstadt Madonna (also known as the Madonna of Jakob Meyer zum Hasen) is an oil painting by the German-Swiss artist Hans Holbein the Younger.[1] Completed ca. 1526—1530 in Basel,[2] the work shows the Bürgermeister of Basel Jakob Meyer zum Hasen, his first wife (who had died earlier), his current wife, and his daughter grouped around the Madonna and infant Jesus.[3][4]

The meaning of the two other male figures on the left side (the Madonna's right) is, like the overall iconography of the image, not entirely clear. Franny Moyle writes that the man on the Madonna's right is Meyer, and "[t]he boy and baby may be a presentation of Meyer's two deceased sons...."[5] The image testified to the resolutely Catholic faith of the Bürgermeister, who actively opposed the Reformation.

Holbein's Darmstadt Madonna was influenced by Italian Renaissance religious painting; Franny Moyle writes that it was influenced by Andrea Mantegna's 1496 Madonna della Vittoria, and that the two paintings' "perspectival approach ... is almost identical."[6] The Darmstadt Madonna may also contain elements of Netherlandish portrait painting.

Earlier located in Darmstadt, hence its title, the work was on loan to the Städelschen Kunstinstitut in Frankfurt am Main from 2004 to 2011. In 2012, the painting was put on display in the Johanniterkirche in Schwäbisch Hall as part of the permanent exhibition of the Old Masters in the Würth Collection.[7][8]

  1. ^ "BBC - Dark arts: Holbein and the court of Henry VIII". BBC. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  2. ^ Salvini, Roberto (1971). L'opera pittorica completa di Holbein il Giovane. Milan: Rizzoli. p. 95. OCLC 3502208.
  3. ^ Holbein in Berlin : die Madonna der Sammlung Würth mit Meisterwerken der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin. Stephan Kemperdick, Michael Roth, Christine Seidel, Bode-Museum, Sammlung Würth, Nationalgalerie. Berlin. 2016. ISBN 978-3-7319-0327-7. OCLC 937724886.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. ^ Die Madonna des Bürgermeisters Jacob Meyer zum Hasen von Hans Holbein d. J. ein neues Meisterwerk der Sammlung Würth in der Schwäbisch Haller Johanniterkirche. Carmen Sylvia Weber, Hans Holbein, Gabriele Kopp-Schmidt, Beate Elsen-Schwedler. Künzelsau. 2012. ISBN 978-3-89929-237-4. OCLC 778160061.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  5. ^ Moyle, Franny, The King's Painter: The Life and Times of Hans Holbein, New York: Abrams Press, 2021, pp. 140-141.
  6. ^ The King's Painter, p. 141.
  7. ^ Jürgs, Alexander. "Holbein'sche Madonna: Die "teuerste Frau Deutschlands"". FAZ.NET (in German). ISSN 0174-4909. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  8. ^ Lober, Bettina (9 July 2017). "Diplomacy star meets Schwäbisch Hall Madonna (Diplomatie-Star trifft Haller Madonna)". Haller Tagblatt (local newspaper). Retrieved 30 December 2021.