# Strahlenkranzmadonna-Domschatz-Essen

- By: Tuxyso
- Date: 2025-02-01
- Classification: Sculpture
- Museum: [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Strahlenkranzmadonna-Domschatz-Essen.jpg)
- Rights: [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/commons/thumb/7/7d/Strahlenkranzmadonna-Domschatz-Essen.jpg/1920px-Strahlenkranzmadonna-Domschatz-Essen.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Madonna on the crescent at the entrance of the Essener Cathedral Treasury

The figure shown here is a representation of the Madonna on the crescent / Madonna in a mandorla and is located at the entrance of the Cathedral Treasury in Essen Minster.

Museum label:

Madonna in a mandorla Maasland or Ruhr region (?), around 1500 Oak wood, polychrome Inv. 199

Alongside Saints Cosmas and Damian, the Virgin Mary was the patroness of the Essen convent. The main altar of Essen Minster was dedicated to her. This figure of the Madonna in a mandorla is a surviving part of the altar shrine, which was destroyed during the Second World War.

The depiction is inspired by the New Testament Book of Revelation: »A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.« (Rev 12:1)

In her left hand, Mary as the "new Eve" holds a pear, which in medieval iconography sometimes replaced the apple of paradise.

The Christ Child holds a bunch of grapes as a symbol of the Eucharist.