A PARCEL-GILT POLYCHROME WOOD RELIEF OF THE ANNUNCIATION

Mauch was the finest master of his generation working in Ulm. Baxandall described his style as ‘an irresistible hybrid of Ulm and Italy…the whole performance is one of extraordinary sophistication and poise, brought off through a precise sense of scale and surface’ (Baxandall, op. cit., p. 23). This is articulated in the present work in the artist’s careful use of the reflective property of the smooth wood, creating harmony with the differential of textures, and in the Italianate elegance of the Virgin’s features.
Mauch’s earliest authenticated work, an altar depicting the Holy Family in the Chapel at Bieselbach of 1510, compares closely to the present Annunciation, particularly in the figure of Zebedee on the proper left wing of the altar. The Virgin’s sweet and graceful face, slightly tilted and with the hint of a smile, is seen in a number of the artist’s finest works, such as in the altar at the Stadtkirche Geislingen and in the limewood Madonna in the Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf.