Lot 28: Workshop of Friedrich Pacher (active circa 1474-after 1508) South Tyrol, late 15th century , a gilt and painted wood three-quarter length limewood relief of the Virgin and Child

the Child seated on her lap held by her left hand whilst in her right she holds a pear, three winged cherubs heads at her feet

measurements note 90cm., 35½in.

L. Andergassen, Kunstraum Südtirol (Bozen, 2007), illus. p. 110

Attributed to the workshop of the painter Friedrich Pacher by Andergassen in 2007, this tenderly sculpted group clearly reflects the influence of his master, but no relation, Michael Pacher (1435-1495) as in his Madonna and Child in the Parish Church of St. Lorentzen-Pusterstal, illustrated by Müller. The modelling of the hair, the intricate crown and the treatment to the drapery are distinctive. Andergassen notes even closer stylistic comparisons with the work of Friedrich Pacher who would have worked closely with sculptors when undertaking his commissions for large altarpieces. Andergassen attributes further groups to the workshop of Friedrich Pacher including the once painted figure of St. Margaret in the Cloisters, Metropolitan Museum New York inv. no. 63.12.2. Formerly from the parish church of Saint Margaret im Dorf, Neustift near Brixen, the Cloisters St. Margaret displays a very similar pose, tilted head and bold drapery to those seen in the present impressive group which would almost certainly been originally placed in the central shrine of an altarpiece.

RELATED LITERATURE
T.Müller, Gotische Skulpture in Tirol (Bozen, 1976) pl. 112; W. D. Wixom, 'Medieval Sculpture at the Cloisters', Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, vol. XLVI, no. 3, p. 26