The Mother of God is shown standing on a silver crescent moon in a mandorla against a gilded gold background. Her right leg is set back slightly and she has moved her left leg forward making it visible through her dress from the knee down and the black tip of
The Mother of God is shown standing on a silver crescent moon in a mandorla against a gilded gold background. Her right leg is set back slightly and she has moved her left leg forward making it visible through her dress from the knee down and the black tip of her shoe protrudes beyond the crescent. The Christ Child sits on her left arm. He gazes up towards his mother's face. His right hand rests on an apple, which his mother offers him with her right hand. The Virgin attends to her child; she has turned her head to the right and bends over in the same direction. She wears a small gold-wired crown on her head. The locks of her blond hair fall evenly over both shoulders, on her left it reaches the child's shoulder and falls down his side. Over a blue undergarment the Virgin wears an iridenscent pink coat with a bright green lining. The hem of the coat slips off her right shoulder, looping broadly around her right arm, whereby the large turn-up stands out as a consistent green shape [...].
The mandorla is created by the surrounding dark blue clouds. These are compact and appear to crowd in from the edge and are dotted with isolated heads of cherubs, with grey-white, green or yellow pairs of wings. On either side three angels float in front of the clouds and venerate the Virgin. It is striking that without exception they all wear vestments: the amice is common to them all, whereas the robes vary, depending on whether the wearer is characterised as a priest, a deacon or a sub-deacon. The first angel floats towards the Virgin from the top left with his hands held in front of him angled to the right in an attitude of prayer; he wears a green dalmatica and beneath a white alba. Half way up the painting the back of an angel in a yellow tunic is visible, turning right into the pictorial space. The bottom angel on the left side is shown in three-quarter profile and appears behind the donor's head with his arms crossed in front of his chest in an ancient devotional gesture and gazes upwards. He wears a green damatica with fringes. On the right side the uppermost angel floats diagonally forward to the left and towards the centre of the image with outstretched arms. He wears an iridescent dark red chasuble over an orange-red tunic. Beneath him an angel kneels, facing left in three-quarter profile, he lowers his hands in an attitude of prayer and gazes up at the Mother of God in veneration. His dalmatica consists of a black patterned gold brocade; under which a white alba is visible. At the bottom right once again we encounter an angel from the reverse this time in a green tunic. He kneels so that the bare soles of his feet are visible, his hands are raised to chest height and his mouth is open: he appears to be singing or reciting.
In the bottom left corner a half-length figure of the donor is included in the painting (to about hip height). The old man is turned to the right in an attitude of prayer. Over a light coloured shirt he wears a dark robe, over which he wears a black, large patterned cloak with fur-trimming. The sitter has stuck his arms through the slits in the sleeves of his cloak. His aged face is framed by a grey beard. His narrow mouth with its compressed lips and his aquiline nose bestow him with a particular severity. He wears a precious gold cap on his head; on his right ring finger he wears a simple gold band. On the right beside his head his coat-of-arms covers the tip of the crescent moon.
[Cat. Frankfurt 2005, 235-242]
