Madonna of Bruges, Marble statue in Church of Our Lady, Bruges, Belgium.
The Madonna of Bruges is a marble sculpture depicting the Virgin Mary looking downward while the Christ child stands independently beside her, both carved from a single block of Carrara marble. The work stands roughly 135 centimeters tall and shows the careful craftsmanship of the period.
The sculpture was created between 1501 and 1504 and left Italy in 1506 after being commissioned by wealthy Bruges cloth merchants named Jan and Alexander Mouscron. This move northward brought Renaissance ideas to a city that had followed different artistic traditions until then.
The way the figures are posed and their emotional expression look quite different from other religious sculptures made around the same time in Northern Europe. This Italian approach to showing human feeling in marble still stands out to visitors today.
The sculpture is protected behind bulletproof glass inside the Church of Our Lady, which charges an entrance fee. Visitors should check opening hours in advance, as they vary by season.
During World War II, German forces moved this marble sculpture to an Austrian salt mine for safekeeping, and it was returned to Bruges in 1945 after the conflict ended. This journey across Europe shows how valued this artwork was, even during times of crisis.
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