Mary as a Temple Virgin in the Dress with Ears of Corn

The type probably goes back to a silver statue made north of the Alps in the 14th century, showing the young Mary in a gown covered with ears of grain, which German merchants gave to Milan Cathedral and venerated as miraculous. Once lost, the statue was replaced by a painting in 1465 and a marble figure around 1485. Painted and printed copies carried the type across southern Germany and the Alps. Here Mary is the girl who, in the apocryphal gospels, served in the Temple at Jerusalem before her betrothal, hair loose and hands joined in prayer. The golden ears on her green dress stand for Christ and for the bread of the Eucharist. At the altar kneels the donor, Benedikt Eck, abbot of Mondsee, his coats of arms at his knees and a painted tablet above him asking the Mother of God for mercy.