Beautiful Madonna of Żarnów

The standing figure of Mary holding the Christ Child was a theme and style popular around the year 1400, rooted in International Gothic art. Sculptures of this type, known as Beautiful Madonnas, are characterised by a serene atmosphere and refined elegance. Mary, typically depicted with a delicate build and youthful face, is shown in an idealised pose shaped like the letter “S”. The pronounced tilt of her torso away from the vertical axis is designed to visually balance the soft drapery of her garments, which often fall into semicircular festoons and rich cascades at the lower part of the figure. These representations are further distinguished by the tenderness and loving bond between the mother and child.

The Madonna of Żarnów was created at the close of the International Gothic style in an unidentified workshop in Western Pomerania. It shows strong compositional and technical similarities to the Beautiful Madonna of Damitzow (Germany), located about 25 km from Szczecin. Before 1939, that sculpture also belonged to the Szczecin museum collection. Although now lost, it has been identified in a pre-war photograph from the museum's archival collections (inventory no. MNS/A.FOTO/14653). The style of both works reflects the influence of the Beautiful Madonna of Gdańsk.

The sculpture, found in the church in Żarnów, which once belonged to the Cistercian nuns of Wolin, is attributed to this religious order. The back-facing design suggests that the figure originally functioned as part of an altarpiece. The popularity of such depictions was influenced by the growth of Marian devotions and personal piety in 14th-century culture.

The sculpture is displayed in the permanent exhibition Mystery of Light: Medieval Art in Pomerania.

Kinga Krasnodębska