Madonna im Rosenhag

Schongauer painted this large panel in 1473 as an altarpiece for the main church in Colmar, in Alsace, and there it stood for almost 500 years. Mary sits in an enclosed rose garden with the Christ child, and if you look into the leaves you can find small birds, finches, tucked among the blossoms, each carrying its own old meaning. Then in January 1972 the painting was stolen outright from the church. It was missing for over a year before it turned up again in 1973, and rather than send it back to the parish it was moved to a former Dominican church nearby, where it hangs now. The red of Mary's robe against the dark hedge is the thing the eye goes to first.