Picture Gallery - Madonna with Animals

In the first room of the picture gallery we can see the eye-catching painting of Madonna with Animals, which is proof of the genius and the enormous influence of one of the greats of European art, Albrecht Dürer. The author of the Olomouc panel tried to imitate his teacher in his composition and small details. The pattern was mainly Dürer's drawings with the same theme, which are now stored in Vienna, Berlin, and the Louvre in Paris. The author must have known Dürer's drawings very well, from which he borrowed a number of details, such as the figure of St. Joseph taking water from a well, the bull and the castle on the horizon.

Thanks to the efforts of our painter to get closer to his master, we can admire Dürer's interest in nature, which is reflected in a number of botanical and zoological motifs in the Olomouc panel. Almost every plant and almost every animal hides a symbolic meaning. For example, strawberries, iris, forget-me-nots, and violets point to the humility and Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, the iris signifies her future misery. The symbols of Christ's sufferings on the cross are a goldfinch, a bullfinch and a bull. His resurrection is symbolised by a tortoiseshell butterfly which has settled on a veronica plant symbolising Christ as the only cure.