The Virgin Mary at prayer
Mikhail Jampolsky (b.1874, fl.c.1896 - 1917)
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
c. 1900 - 1910
Materials
Wood
Measurements
100 mm (H)75 mm (W)
Place of origin
Paris
Order this imageCollection
Cragside, Northumberland
NT 1228322
Summary
Sculpture, metal; the Virgin Mary in prayer; Mikhail Jampolsky (born 1874, fl. c. 1896-c.1917); c. 1900-1910. A copper-alloy devotional plaquette in mandorla (almond) shape, depicting the Virgin Mary in prayer, with a cherub head below her. Within a rectangular wooden frame stand.
Full description
A copper-alloy plaquette in mandorla shape depicting the Virgin Mary in prayer, by the Ukrainian-born sculptor Mikhail (Michel) Jampolsky (born 1874, flourished c. 1897-1917). She is shown in profile facing left, wearing a cloak and with her head partly veiled, her hands held together in prayer. Below her is a winged cherub and on each side lilies, symbols of purity. Around the edge is the legend, translatable as ‘O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you’, and the artist’s signature is at lower right, just within the border. Jampolsky was born in Kiev in 1874 but moved at an early age to France, where he studied. He was one of a number of Jewish artists who left what was then Russia for France around this time. Jampolsky exhibited regularly at the Salon des Artistes Français in Paris, to which he was elected a member in 1908, and was awarded honourable mentions at the Expositions Universelles of 1897 and 1900. There are occasional references to Jampolsky in publications during the first decade of the twentieth century, but he appears to disappear after around 1915-17 and nothing further is known of him. He made numerous portraits as well as many small religious works such as the plaquette at Cragside, or a little plaquette he made in 1909 dedicated to ‘Notre Dame des Aviateurs’, to be worn for protection by people venturing upon the then new and still dangerous new activity of flying; an example is in the Yale University Art Gallery (Inv. 2001.87.27776). As well as medals, Jampolsky made objects such as handmirrors in the art nouveau style. Jampolsky was evidently highly thought of by his contemporaries. In his Biographical Dictionary of Medallists, Leonard Forrer devoted a long entry to him, quoting the French critic Jean de Foville who, after seeing his work in the 1903 Salon, praised the sculptor's 'personal and harmonious works. The artist needs just to bring to perfection his knowledge of his art, to treat the human body with a slightly lighter touch, to come just a little closer to realisation of a living grace, and he will give us some truly excellent works.’ Jeremy Warren April 2022
Provenance
Armstrong collection. Transferred by the Treasury to The National Trust in 1977 via the National Land Fund, aided by 3rd Baron Armstrong of Bamburgh and Cragside (1919 - 1987).
Marks and inscriptions
Legend:: O MARIE CONCUE SANS PECHE PRIEZ POUR NOUS QUI AVONS RECOURS A VOUS Right, within border:: M. JAMPOLSKY
Makers and roles
Mikhail Jampolsky (b.1874, fl.c.1896 - 1917), sculptor
References
Forrer 1904-30: Leonard Forrer, Biographical Dictionary of medallists : coin, gem, and seal-engravers, mint-masters, etc., ancient and modern, with references to their works B.C. 500-A.D. 1900, 8 vols., London 1904-30, III, pp. 59-60; VII, p. 476.