Virgin and Child, so-called Krumau Madonna

Around 1400 the town of Krumau in South Bohemia, Český Krumlov in Czech, belonged to the Rosenbergs, one of the most powerful noble families in the kingdom. Where this Madonna first stood is not known. Suggestions include Saint Vitus, the town church the Rosenbergs patronised, and the Cistercian monastery of Zlatá Koruna nearby. What is known is that the statue turned up in a private house in Krumau in 1910, which gave it its name, and that it was bought in 1913 for the Austrian state collection in Vienna. It has been in the Kunsthistorisches Museum since 1922.

Mary holds the child low against her body with both hands, and her mantle falls away on either side in long, looping folds. The stone is a calcareous sandstone, and only small traces survive of the paint and gilding that once covered it. The most closely observed part is the child, a plump, lively baby who looks out past his mother.