Talk:Madonna of Bruges

Dimensions
3. We also need a source for the dimensions of the statue. Currently the article claims it is 200cm high. When I visited Bruges 3 weeks ago I thought the statue was significantly smaller than this. A quick scan of the web comes up with various claims for the height, ranging from 128cm to 220cm - even 230cm (128cm is the commonest). If nobody has a credible source, I will email the museum and see if they will give us the answer. Brymor (talk) 21:14, 12 August 2023 (UTC)


 * There are multiple citations for a height of 128cm for the statue, perhaps the best one being the Victoria & Albert Museum, which purchased from the Belgian Government a plaster cast of the original made in Bruges in 1871/72. I have edited the infobox accordingly. See https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O85432/bruges-madonna-statue-michelangelo/ Brymor (talk) 16:27, 28 August 2023 (UTC)

Similarities with the Pietà
Clearly there are similarites with the Pietà, but also significant differences. And I am struggling with the statement The long, oval face of Mary is also reminiscent of the Pietà. First, her face is not as long as in the Pietà (the forehead is foreshortened in the Bruges work). More important are the differences. In the Pietà, her head is slanted, inviting us to sympathise with her distress over her dead son. In Bruges, her head is upright. Her stance has been described as queenly: she is the Queen of Heaven, but in the context of the work, she is facing forwards, to the future, as is her son.

I am not trying to launch into art criticism here, I merely wish to point out that stressing similarities with the Pietà is misplaced if we ignore the differences. Brymor (talk) 16:32, 8 August 2023 (UTC)