Christ Child with glistening crown

• painted wood
• Brabant
• around 1500
• height without crown (7 cm): 32 cm

The figure of a vested Christ Child with a glistening crown is a particular treasure. It was added to a medieval reliquary casket in the post Reform era. The note on the Christ Child’s dress refers to a sliver from the Holy Cross that was once located in the casket. The statuette belongs to a series of carved and painted naked Christ Childs that were produced around 1500 in Brabant, primarily in Mechelen. The figures were seen standing, smiling and blessing. Such images of devotion were mainly intended for convents and for dressing up.

Whereas other figures of the Christ Child in or from Protestant convents still bear their medieval garments to this day, the associated crowns are the exception.

After the annulment (1920) of the “Cloister of the Holy Cross” Protestant convent in Rostock, the small artworks from the Cistercian period kept there made their way to the Mecklenburg state museum. The range and diversity of this legacy in the form of statuettes, altars, relics and other devotional objects is virtually unique in Germany.