Madonna and Child on the Crescent Moon, Tilman Riemenschneider (circa 1460–1531)

This statue may have been designed as a hausmadonna (House Madonna)—that is, a devotional sculpture installed on a non-religious building and endowed with protective or evil-averting powers. Originally shielded from the elements by a canopy, the sculptural work may also have been surrounded by a carved wreath of roses. The moon under the figure’s feet variously symbolized chastity and the Catholic dogma of Immaculate Conception; it also foretold the apocalyptic end of the world.

Riemenschneider was a key figure in the transition from the ethereal forms that dominated the Late Gothic period to more realistic human forms of the German Renaissance. During his lifetime, he enjoyed great success as a sculptor and ran an enormous workshop in Würzburg staffed by an estimated forty assistants.