Martin Schongauer, Madonna of the Rose Bower

Martin Schongauer, Madonna of the Rose Bower, 1473, tempera on panel, 200 x 115 cm (The Dominican Church, Colmar, France).
A conversation with Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris
Please note, this video was recorded in the Dominican Church in Colmar despite what we say. We had just run in from the rain and were all turned around!

[@sherryzimmerman9220]

Excellent tutorial on how to READ a painting…….One could miss so much without learning such as your people are willing to humbly deliver….. Thank You

[@melizen2]

Lovely, so sensitive - thank you ~

[@maryannjordan8143]

Thank you for these, always interesting and inspiring.

[@carlberg7503]

Mary and Christ looking in different directions--your analysis of what this means is astute. Your ability to look carefully and think deeply both teaches and inspires.

[@TheGarishGrackle]

Very, very cool. Thank you for this. I’m a recent enrollee in the Khan Academy. What excellent work you’ve all done. I'm thoroughly enjoying my time with Khan. Much love and many blessings. 🌈

[@howardhenrychen9526]

This channel is a godsend to those whose exposure to art history has reached a little bit beyond AH's Top 40 Greatest Hits. I know that sounds snobbish but it's exactly the opposite. You guys could exponentially increase your click count by doing analyses of works like Flaming June or Great Wave Off Kanagawa all the time (not that they aren't great),, but I love that you choose to show us lesser-known artists, histories, places, movements, or pieces.

[@smarthistory-art-history]

Thank you. We appreciate that you noticed. There is so much wonderful art to enjoy and to learn about.

[@KushDaddy333]

I swear, I could listen to you two talk art history all day long. Oh wait . . . I've done just that more than once. 😂 ❤

[@smarthistory-art-history]

Thanks for the kind note. It was nice to read this morning and helps as we produce our videos.

[@virginiaensinck5828]

Thank you so much for the explanation about this beautiful madonna! I visited Colmar recently and I had the opportunity to visit this church. Such a peaceful place for this beautiful painting! ❤

[@michaelbaumgart2391]

The contrast of the earthly plants and animals to the otherworldly figures is fascinating.

[@alleespach]

Thank you very much for this beautiful video! It starts with a glaring error, though - you are not standing in the church of St Martin, but in the former Dominican Church! Schongauer's Madonna of the Rose Bower used to be displayed in the church of St Martin until 1972, when it was stolen. After it was recovered, it was moved to its present location. Both churches are very close one from another, but do not look alike at all. St Martin is larger and has a much more cavernous interior, it is quite imposing. The Unterlinden Museum has a whole room with statues from the church of St Martin, very interesting works of 14th-century stone carving.

[@daveyost1567]

Lovely!

[@Sasha0927]

It's a veritable Rose Bower-off here on Smarthistory! Yesterday I saw the Lochner version, we'll see how this one compares... 🧐 ... I like Lochner's better overall. The smoothness and softness of the figure's features took me there, but there's loveliness in this version too. Mary's rich red gown and stunning crown grab my attention - so does yet another adorable pudgy bb jzus, lol. The final detail about Mary / Jesus looking in opposite directions was poignant, too. I was reminded of Jesus' rebuke of Peter for wanting to contradict God's will by saving him. Christ was determined to do the saving... I can't imagine being around to witness it.

[@oldsailor83]

It seems the painting is in the Dominican church, not Saint Martin. Very close by but a different church.

[@smarthistory-art-history]

Yes, that is correct.

[@bobwheeler4501]

I'm by no means a theologian (thus the comment / question), but you both make reference to the "foreknowledge" of Christ's suffering which is not a Christian tradition I'm aware of. Is that / was that something the painter would have considered that perhaps fell out of favor over time?

[@smarthistory-art-history]

There is a long tradition of paintings of the Virgin and Child that depict a degree of sadness in Mary's face, a reference generally acknowledged to be a foreknowledge (human, not divine) of Christ's suffering. Mary is after all surrounded by goldfinch and of course in representations of the Annunciation (post 11th century and despite the fact that Luke mentions nothing about this) she is inevitably depicted reading from, or holding, a book that we can presume to be a Bible, that was widely understood to prefigure the events of the as of yet unwritten New Testament.

[@doncarlodivargas5497]

They cut out part of the picture to make it fit in the frame and leave out god!?!? I must say i am surprised, it is a beautiful picture as it is, but i would have guessed Christians had cut out the lower part of her dress and leave god in? Who choose to keep strawberries and remove god from a picture!?!?

[@smarthistory-art-history]

It's a good question, a lot can happen over the centuries. Perhaps there was damage to the upper section of the painting. There is so much we don't know.

[@marta9127]

Those foreheads... They seem deliberately painted this way. Is there any reason why? I mean, they are so remarkable, you cannot miss them. Especially Mary's - her skull is just so over the top, the bones over the eyebrows create such a strange shape... It is contrasting with this very detailed, calm naturalism, beauty and harmony of the birds and plants...

[@kentwang44]

Jesus's right hand looks strange with its red color as if it was melting into Mary's red hair. All the fingers (both Mary and Jesus) look too long. Oh well, I guess even a master has difficulty with hands.