Madonna and Child Enthroned

The Madonna is depicted enthroned, crowned, with her head veiled, the veil cascading over her shoulders, from which golden hair emerges. Originally, the sculpture was housed inside a tabernacle. For security reasons, in 1905, the sculpture with its custody was moved from Santa Maria ad Cryptas to the parish church of Santa Maria Assunta in Fossa (L’Aquila). Photographs taken before 1979, the year of the artwork’s theft, show the wooden sculpture within the tabernacle, whose inner side panels were painted with Scenes from the infancy and Passion of Christ. Following the theft, the doors were dismantled and dispersed in the antiquities market.
Subsequently, the sculpture was recovered along with the rear panel featuring a cusp depicting the Redeemer and the panel representing the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, both now on display. The hollowing of the rear part of the group, carved from the same trunk, is explained by the need to lighten the piece for transport and liturgical mobilisation. The Madonna from Fossa exemplifies a highly sophisticated work requiring multiple skills in painting, wood sculpture, and even goldsmithing, evident in the extensive use of engraved and punched metal foils.