Rzeźba Matki Boskiej z Dzieciątkiem ze Zbrosławic w typie simulacrum – badania oraz zagadnienia konserwacji i restauracji

Abstract

The image of Virgin with the Child from the Assumption Church in Zbrosławice(Silesia) belongs among the rare in Poland simulacrum sculptures – with movablelimbs, natural hair and dressed in real garments. That little sculpture madeabout 1700–1750, brought from the Austrian territory, initially served religiousdevotion in a monastery, later on was an object of private devotion. In the 20thcentury it became a main artefact of a sanctuary of Virgin Mary, having up to daya very important cult value. The history of the sculpture from its beginning andrepeated renovations have in time obliterated its original features, that becameillegible due to modification of the image. The carried out research on the figure’sstructure and a search for analogical artefacts allowed to re-read it and – in thecourse of conducted conservation and restoration – to approximate the originaliconographic conception, with respect for both the limitations of the historicmatter and the needs of contemporary cult function.