Belgium

Madonna and Child by Michelangelo (Diocese of Bruges)

The Madonna with Child was sculpted by Michelangelo Buonarroti in 1504-1505. The Virgin Mary is represented as a young mother with the Infant Jesus, who is resting upright against her knee, both figures showcasing a serene expression. The marble statue was bought in Italy by Jan Mouscron, a scion of a wealthy Bruges-based family of cloth traders and shortly later gifted to the church. The curious story of the statue involves both the French Revolution and World War II, since the artwork was stolen first in 1794 and later by the Nazis. The Allied Monuments men recovered the sculpture and returned it to the church miraculously undamaged in 1945. The Madonna with Child truly represents the vicissitudes that many artworks experience across Europe: stolen twice, it was protected and brought back to its original place, the Diocese of Bruges (Belgium), where it is kept today as a symbol of the value and meaning of Christian heritage for all Europeans.