The Adoration of the Einsiedeln Madonna

Discussion

FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

Sometime after the production of the 1466 Master E. S. engraving (1972.1), representations of the miraculous Einsiedeln Virgin statue became more iconic and increasingly triangular in appearance. This unique eighteenth-century woodcut was exuberantly adorned at a workshop in stenciled cutouts backed with fabric and metallic scraps, effectively dressed as the statue itself would have been on festive occasions. The text below states in German, Italian, and French that worshippers could visit this cult object at Einsiedeln. The seemingly repetitive last line, “Zu finden zu Einsiedeln,” however, is an attempt at merchandising rather than a call to pilgrimage, for it identifies where the print may be purchased. A close variant now at the Victoria and Albert Museum is decked in similar fabrics and foils. This suggests that the workshop used several different woodblocks at once, or that one replaced the other.

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