Mary Enthroned with Saints Margaret and Barbara

In 1912, while South Tyrol still belonged to Austria, this panel travelled from a private collection in Bruneck to the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. After the First World War the region went to Italy, and the painting stayed in Vienna. The panel is the centre of a winged altarpiece made for a village church in the 1460s. The Gothic canopy over the figures is painted in stone grey, like carved tracery. Beneath it two angels lower a crown towards Mary's hair while she holds out a red apple to the Child. Around his neck hangs a sprig of red coral, a charm parents gave small children against harm. Saint Margaret carries a cross, with the little dragon she overcame at her side. Saint Barbara holds a sword point down, next to her tower with a chalice showing through its window.