After an absence of almost eight decades, the priceless statue of Immaculata from the oldest Marian column in the city has returned to Wrocław. The column stood in front of the monastery church (now the Greek Catholic Cathedral of St Vincent and St James) in 1699. The work, for years considered lost, was found in Warsaw and has already undergone careful conservation. It will now be displayed at the exhibition ‘Silesian Art of the 16th-19th Centuries’ at the National Museum in Wrocław.
History of the Immaculata
Immaculata, meaning ‘without blemish’ or ‘immaculate’, is an iconographic motif popular in Baroque art depicting Mary as unaffected by original sin. The image draws inspiration from the Apocalypse of St John, showing the ‘woman clothed with the sun’. Characteristic features of the depiction are the figure of the young Mary, dressed in a white gown and blue mantle, with a wreath of stars above her head, standing on a crescent moon and trampling a serpent, symbolising Satan. This type of sculptural depiction adorned Marian columns, popular in the Habsburg monarchy from the 17th century onwards. They not only had a religious function, but were also a form of votive thanksgiving for protection against epidemics.
The Cathedral of St. Vincent and St. James and the column shortly before the statue was dismantled. Source: Bildarchiv Foto Marburg
Foundation and fate of the Wrocław Immaculata
The Breslau statue of Immaculata was commissioned by Gottfried Czeleschowsky, Abbot of the Premonstratensians, at the end of the 17th century. Its execution was entrusted to the stonemason Joseph Getzinger for the sum of 400 Silesian thalers, supplemented by additional goods in the form of beer and grain. The Marian column stood in front of the monastery church (today the Greek Catholic Cathedral of St Vincent and St James) in 1699, with the final settlement in early 1700. Although the author of the statue remains unknown, the style indicates the influence of Italicised Bohemian art. For unknown reasons, the sculpture was removed even before 1945. After the war, it was considered lost, and in 2010 a copy was placed on top of the column, made from available archival material.
Królikarnia – finding a historical sculpture
A turning point in the statue’s history came in 2018, when Piotr Oszczanowski, director of the National Museum in Wrocław, identified the sculpture in the collection of the X. Dunikowski Museum of Sculpture in Królikarnia. Dunikowski in Królikarnia, a branch of the National Museum in Warsaw. Until then, it was thought to be an image of St Margaret and was erroneously attributed to the Czech sculptor Matthias Bernhard Braun.
The statue before and after restoration. Photo: National Museum in Warsaw
Immaculata statue – conservation of the monument and return to Wrocław
In 2023, the statue underwent thorough conservation under the direction of Prof. Janusz Smaza at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. Its surface was cleaned and defects were filled in, including the characteristic wreath of stars. The key procedure was to replace the secondary head of the dragon with a new version, more in line with the original appearance known from archival photographs. The recovered monument will be presented at the exhibition ‘Silesian Art of the 16th-19th Centuries’ at the National Museum in Wrocław. Thanks to the cooperation of this institution with the National Museum in Warsaw, the sculpture has returned to Lower Silesia after almost 80 years.
Source: National Museum in Wrocław
Read also: Renovation | Monument | History | Sculpture | Wrocław | Interesting facts
