The Rijksmuseum has acquired an undisputed masterpiece for the new arrangement of the museum’s exhibits. The object in question is a unique lifelike Flemish terracotta bust of Mary in mourning (ca. 1500-1510), called Our Lady of Sorrows.
Anonymous, Mary as Our Lady of Sorrows (ca. 1500-1510)
This recent acquisition was made possible thanks to funding from the BankGiro lottery. The bust will be displayed from today as part of the Rijksmuseum’s winter exhibition A divine gift.
In addition to Our Lady of Sorrows, the exhibition A divine gift includes a number of spectacular Gothic sculptures and several recently restored medieval paintings. This will be the first time that the sculptures have been exhibited. They were donated to the museum over the course of the past few years from the last large private collection of medieval art in the Netherlands: the Goldschmidt-Pol collection. The items donated include an expressive relief of the apostle Peter in mourning (ca. 1425), a particularly elegant Brussels Madonna with Christ Child (ca. 1490) and a magnificent clay Pietà (Utrecht, ca. 1450). The collection will form part of the new exhibition of medieval art in 2013. A taster of the exhibition to come, A divine gift will be on display from 14 December to 5 March 2012. – www.rijksmuseum.nl