Lot: 13

Southern Germany. 16th/17th century.
Sculpture, Christ on the Palm Donkey

Carved in the round from wood. Older polychrome paintwork heavily worn away. Christ, with long, curly hair and a forked beard, rides on the back of a donkey standing on a rectangular pedestal. His right hand is raised in blessing, and he holds an orb in his left. He is dressed in a long tunic, and on his head sits a brass crown adorned with colored glass stones. Damage from age and the paintwork, restorations. The base has been subsequently framed with strips. 63 x 50 x 22.5 cm. The Palm Donkey was a figure used in southern Germany from the 10th century onwards in the annual Palm Sunday procession on the Sunday before Easter, commemorating Christ's entry into Jerusalem. Carvings of this type were pulled on a cart around the church and through the town. The earliest record of such a procession with an 'image of the Lord on a donkey' is found in the Vita of St. Ulrich of Augsburg (982/992). The vast majority of surviving Palm Sunday donkey sculptures, however, date from the 15th and 16th centuries. The head type of the present Christ figure, with its slightly protruding eyes, softly modeled features, and forked beard, reflects a type prevalent in Bohemian sculpture. Provenance: Oetker Collection, Krefeld.

Reserve price: 800 €