The Madonna with St John the Baptist and St John the Evangelist are wooden statues dating from the 1360s, which were part of the altarpiece in one of the churches in Cheb. The sculptures represent the early phase of a new artistic style, influenced by painting and especially by manuscript miniatures from the court circle. The quality and style of the carving indicate that the works were the product of a workshop in Prague. They are part of the exhibition of Gothic sculpture in the Gallery of Fine Arts in Cheb.
Origin
A provenance from the first parish church in Cheb, which was demolished in 1812, is not certain. The only argument in favour of this is that this church was dedicated to St John the Baptist, whose statue was in a prominent position in the altarpiece, to the right of the Virgin Mary. At the time the three statues were made, however, the Church of St John the Baptist had long lost its importance, and donations were concentrated more in the Church of St Nicholas. The rights of patronage to the latter church were held by the Order of Teutonic Knights, whose representatives maintained contacts with the royal court in Prague, which was close to the workshop that produced the statues.
Original location
The most recent research is in no doubt that all three statues came from the corpus of an altarpiece that has not survived, in spite of the fact that there is no exact contemporary analogy for the arrangement of an Enthroned Madonna with St John the Baptist on her right and St John the Evangelist on her left. A schema of three figures with a central sculpture of a Madonna was quite common in Central Europe in the period 1350-1450. A pair of statues of the two St Johns, which may have been part of an altarpiece with a central statue of a Madonna, have been preserved in Tovačov and Rychleby (Złoty Stok, Lower Silesia).
Artistic situation
The statues in Cheb were created during an exceptionally interesting period for Bohemian art in the third quarter of the 14th century. During the reign of the King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV, very favourable conditions for the development of sculptural work prevailed in the Czech lands. Economic prosperity and political stability facilitated an unparalleled intensity in the construction of churches and their furnishing. The precondition for the functioning of many workshops producing altar retables was the tremendous investment into altar foundations. The example of Charles’ initiatives as a founder and builder galvanised many members of his court, and also other church dignitaries, noblemen, and burghers, opening up many opportunities for artistic craftsmen of all types. The high demand and excellent conditions attracted the best creative artists from all over Europe. The fact that craftsmen trained in different parts of Europe, especially in Italy, France, and the German-speaking lands, came together here in the centre of the Empire was reflected in an unusual variety of styles and a dynamic development.
In an endeavour not to repeat what had already been achieved, sculptors came up in quick succession with new original designs for presenting different layers of meaning in their depictions of Madonnas and saints. Their main means of doing so was the reproduction of a wealth of visual experiences, either directly on the basis of observation (by introducing elements of irregularity, randomness, or ordinariness into previously idealised forms) or by pictorial evocation with the help of drapery, which varied both in the style of arranging the folds and in the texture of the material. Thanks to the unique situation in the artistic centre of Prague in the time of Charles IV, styles could be continually enhanced through new inspirations from artists familiar with contemporary art in Italy and Western Europe, which came together, mingled, and were transformed in Prague. For example, court painting circles influenced woodcarving by the introduction of the compositional principle which brought new dynamism to figures with the help of feet positioned at different heights and which effectively supported the illusion of spatial depth in relief sculptures. A well-known example, which is also the best documented, is the relationship between Enthroned Madonnas and the style of the illuminators who worked in the court of the Archbishop of Prague in the 1360s.
Description and context
The Virgin Mary with the Child Jesus
A sculpture in the round carved from lindenwood, 97 x 39 x 19 cm, hollowed out at the back, polychrome missing. Restored 1964 and 1987, 1994 (J. Živný). Inv. no. P1