Our Lady of Sorrows from Chociwel

This late Gothic figure of Mary, originating from the church in Chociwel, represents the Mater Dolorosa type of depiction. These representations, particularly popular in the late Middle Ages, evoke the events of Golgotha, focusing on Mary’s profound suffering as the mother of the Crucified Christ and her shared role in the story of redemption. Fully sculpted figures like this one were typically part of Crucifixion Groups, which consisted of three or five sculptures. Such figurative Passion scenes were traditionally placed high within church spaces or in chapels referred to as Calvaries.

Thanks to the efforts of the Society for the History and Antiquities of Pomerania, this sculpture was transferred in 1883 from the church in Chociwel to the Szczecin collections, along with the Chociwel Passion, which included a similar figure of Our Lady of Sorrows (lost during World War II). The two almost identical spindle-shaped figures of Mary differed in several ways: the preserved sculpture is shorter, the detailing of the maforium (Mary’s veil) varies slightly, with the edges of the lost figure’s veil adorned with lace-like grooves, and the density of folds in the wimple around the neck also differs. Additionally, Mary in the lost Passion Group had a slightly more inclined head. Formal analogies clearly indicate that both figures of Our Lady of Sorrows were created within the same workshop, known as the Workshop of the Chociwel Passion Master. The preserved figure is considered a later workshop replica.

Its stylistic features suggest the influence of Tilman Riemenschneider (c. 1460–1531), although some researchers also point to the influence of Veit Stoss (c. 1448–1533).

In the permanent exhibition The Mystery of Light: Medieval Art in Pomerania, this sculpture is displayed alongside preserved figures from the Chociwel Passion: The Crucified Christ (MNS/Szt/66) and The Bad Thief (MNS/Szt/67).

Kinga Krasnodębska