id: 139493 accession number: 1963.294 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1963.294 updated: 2023-03-20 14:14:16.703000 The Immaculate Conception, c. 1770. Ignaz Günther (German, 1725–1775). Painted and gilded wood; overall: 78.6 x 34.5 x 19.2 cm (30 15/16 x 13 9/16 x 7 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1963.294 title: The Immaculate Conception title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1770 creation date earliest: 1765 creation date latest: 1775 current location: 214 Central and Northern European creditline: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund copyright: --- culture: Germany, Munich, 18th century technique: painted and gilded wood department: European Painting and Sculpture collection: Sculpture type: Sculpture find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Ignaz Günther (German, 1725–1775) - artist --- measurements: Overall: 78.6 x 34.5 x 19.2 cm (30 15/16 x 13 9/16 x 7 9/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Year in Review (1963) opening date: 1963-11-27T05:00:00 Year in Review (1963). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 27, 1963-January 5, 1964). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE Private collection, Munich (sold, Weinmüller, Munich, December 5-6, 1962, lot no. 1149, to Kurt Rossacher) date: footnotes: citations: Kurt Rossacher (Salzburg, Austria), sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1963. date: footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: The Christian doctrine of the Immaculate Conception maintains that the Virgin Mary was conceived free from sin, ready to be the pure vessel for Christ’s birth. Depicting such an abstract idea required specific imagery. The moon beneath the Virgin’s feet, for example, comes from the New Testament vision of Saint John the Evangelist (Revelation 12:1) of “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet,” while the serpent upon which she treads symbolizes Christ’s triumph over original sin. With his characteristically delicate modeling, elongated proportions, and soft coloring, Ignaz Günther created an archetypal image of innocence on the cusp of womanhood. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Lee, Sherman E. "Year in Review for 1963." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 50, no. 10 (1963): 263-94. page number: Referenced: cat. no. 2, Reproduced: p. 247 url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25151974 Hawley, Henry. "Eighteenth-century Sculpture from Germany and Austria." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art, LI, no. 1 (January, 1964): 1-13. page number: Reproduced: cover and p. 9, fig. 7, detail url: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. page number: Reproduced: p. 150 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n174 Cleveland Museum of Art. Selected Works: Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH:1967. page number: Reproduced: no. 178 url: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. page number: Reproduced: p. 150 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n174 Woeckel, Gerhard P. Franz Ignaz Günther: d. grosse Bildhauer d. bayer. Rokoko. Regensburg, DK: Pustet, 1977. page number: Reproduced: p. 124; Mentioned: p. 63 url: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. page number: Reproduced: p. 166 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n186 Ditner, David Charles. Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century European Sculpture in the Cleveland Museum of Art. 1986. page number: Reproduced: p. 345 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1963.294/1963.294_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1963.294/1963.294_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1963.294/1963.294_full.tif