Madonna of the Rose Bower

Painted in 1473 as a reredos for St Martin's Church, Colmar's largest Christian sanctuary, and stood there until it was stolen in January 1972. After the painting was recovered in June 1973, it was moved to its present location, in the choir of the former Dominican church. In 1480, Schongauer and his assistants had also painted a monumental polyptych for that church; this work (Retable des Dominicains), which has only partially survived, is today kept in the Unterlinden Museum. The theme and the general composition present similarities with Stefan Lochner's earlier and much smaller Madonna of the Rose Bower, while the appearance of the Virgin is modelled on Rogier van der Weyden's Saint Columba Altarpiece; apart from being life-sized and clad in red instead of blue, Schongauer's Virgin has however a markedly different facial expression than Van der Weyden's. The current Gothic Revival frame of the painting is a work by the sculptor Jacques Alfred Klem (1872–1948). A small 16th-century copy of Schongauer's painting, which is today kept in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum of Boston, Massachusetts, shows the original state of the Madonna of the Rose Bower before it was cut down on all sides at an unknown date. It initially measured about 250 cm by 165 cm – by comparison, Lochner's painting measures only 50.5 cm by 40 cm.

It is recorded as the work of Martin Schongauer. Materials recorded for it are wood and oil paint. It is associated with France. The record gives 1473 as its date of establishment or first appearance. It is associated with Renaissance. Recorded genres are religious art. The recorded subject matter is Madonna and Child. It is recorded in the collection of Dominican Convent.

• Title — Madonna of the Rose Bower • Other Language 1 — French • Other Title 1 — La Vierge au buisson de roses • Other Language 2 — German • Other Title 2 — Madonna im Rosenhag • Artist — Martin Schongauer • Year — 1473 • Medium — oil paint on panel • Movement — International Gothic Northern Renaissance • Subject — Mary and Christ Child in a hortus conclusus • Height Metric — 200 • Width Metric — 114.5 • Metric Unit — cm • Museum — Dominican Church • City — Colmar

Madonna of the Rose Bower is recorded as made of wood and oil paint. Associated with France. Recorded from 1473.