Unique rediscovery of the 14th century. Madonna Restoration – History

A previously unknown 14th-century wooden Madonna statue has been restored and put on display at the Bohemian St. Agnes Monastery in Prague. After three years of careful restoration, restorers removed the surface layer of paint and restored the sculpture to its original subtle tones. Researchers discovered that in the 19th century the Madonna was located in the Church of St. Lawrence in Haveland, hence its nickname: Madonna of Haveland. It is also known as the Madonna on the Angel’s Throne.

The statue was discovered by chance in 2022 in a small house in northwest Bohemia. The homeowner who discovered it now has no idea of ​​its history, but the house formerly belonged to Sudeten Germans. They were members of the Nazi Party, and as such after World War II they would be subject to President Edvard Beneš’s denazification decree, be stripped of their citizenship, expelled from Czechoslovakia, and have all their property confiscated.

The statue is just over three feet tall and carved from basswood. It depicts the enthroned Madonna holding the Child Jesus on her lap, surrounded by three cherubim, one on each side and one at the foot. She has a high forehead and wavy hair. The angel beside her is making music. One holds a violin, the other a quirna (a stringed instrument like a lute, but with a flat back).

It was carved in the 1360s or 1370s. The design and form of the work have significant similarities with the sculptures of the master sculpture of the Madonna by Bykovsky. The workshop is believed to have operated near the court of Charles IV, King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor, in Prague. Its patrons were the noble courtiers of Charles IV and the Archbishop of Prague.

With funding from the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the National Gallery in Prague acquired the Madonna in 2022 for 4.5 million Czech crowns ($218,000). A CT scan of the statue was carried out in order to restore it from the effects of later intervention and over-painting. This helps administrators figure out what the original multicolor was and what parts were added.

It took restorer Markéta Pavlíková and her team three years to bring the 95-centimetre-tall sculpture back to life.

“Judging from the surviving fragments, it must have been beautifully colorful originally. She had silver clothing and accessories and a gold cloak.”

Ms. Pavlikova said that before restoration began, the statue was inspected in detail:

“We examined the wood using dendrology and determined it to be a very high quality linden tree. CT scans showed that the wood was completely intact. As for the paint, when we first received the statue it was painted in poor quality basic colors – red, green, yellow, blue. During the course of our research we discovered that there were at least three to five previous layers of paint underneath these.”

Today, some of the original features have been lost, including part of the Virgin Mary’s right hand and part of the dark, curly hair on her head. Ms. Pavlikova believes that this is likely the result of subsequent artistic transformation.

“She originally had a crown that was carved directly from the same piece of wood as the sculpture itself. She also wore a veil that covered part of her hair, which fell down to her chest. It was probably cut off and replaced with a metal crown. And the Baby Jesus was also given a metal crown.”