Martin Schongauer's 'La Vierge au buisson de roses' on rare loan to Louvre from Colmar
From April 8 to July 20, 2026, the Musée du Louvre in Paris will showcase Martin Schongauer's 1473 work, 'La Vierge au buisson de roses.' This delicate oil and tempera painting on wood (200.2 × 114.4 cm) seldom leaves its location in the Dominican church in Colmar. Renowned as 'Beau Martin,' Schongauer has only seven known works. The painting's tumultuous past includes alterations in the 18th century, a neo-Gothic frame added in the early 20th century, and a theft in 1972. Influenced by Netherlandish artists, it portrays the Virgin Mary with the Christ child, featuring iconographic elements like a red robe, wild strawberries, and goldfinches. An article on this will appear in the April 2026 issue of Beaux Arts Magazine.
Key facts
- The exhibition runs from April 8, 2026 to July 20, 2026 at the Musée du Louvre in Paris.
- The painting 'La Vierge au buisson de roses' was created in 1473.
- Martin Schongauer (c. 1445–1491) is known by only seven surviving painted panels.
- The painting is normally housed in the Dominican church in Colmar, near the Unterlinden Museum.
- The panel was altered in the 18th century, losing its original sides and top section showing God the Father.
- A 16th-century copy of the complete work is at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.
- The painting was stolen in 1972 and later recovered.
- Schongauer was admired by Albrecht Dürer, who owned a drawing by him.
Entities
Artists
- Martin Schongauer
- Henri Matisse
- Albrecht Dürer
- Rogier van der Weyden
- Hugo van der Goes
- Edvard Munch
- Pantxika Béguerie-De Paepe
- Magali Haas
- Bastien Garnier
Institutions
- Musée du Louvre
- Musée Unterlinden
- Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
- Beaux Arts Magazine
- Région Grand Est
- Conseil de fabrique de la collégiale Saint-Martin à Colmar
- Église des Dominicains de Colmar
Locations
- Paris
- France
- Colmar
- Grand Est
- Boston
- United States
- Cologne
- Germany
- Brussels
- Belgium
- Louvain