By about 1340 castle church extension works were nearly finished. The decision to the situate the oversized statue of Mary in the eastern blind arch of the apse must have been taken prior to this, as the builders executed a broadly splaying recess instead of a window. The lack of profiles in the splays of the blind arch points to a consistent realization of the task envisaged by the decision to extend the castle temple. According to Andrzej Grzybowski, the statue was constructed concurrently with the erection of church walls. The statue was eight-metre high. It was made of cast stone and decorated with polychrome painted on thin plaster. The early history of the statue was described in detail by Maciej Kilarski. He also reconstructed the technology of the construction of the statue. Kilarski established that in the earliest stage, the statue was covered with multicolour polychrome based on lime paint. Whether the investor, i.e. the Teutonic Order had planned from the very outset to cover the colossus with mosaic remains uncertain. However, this decision endowed the statue with majesty and rendered it an artistic symbol of Malbork stronghold while at the same time emphasizing the unity between the Order and Mother of God. Let us now take a look at the lost painting “The Siege of Marienburg” from ca. 1480. The medieval artist employs a truly intriguing iconographic strategy: he directs the presbytery of the church to the North, at the same time putting in the place of the eastern end of the temple tower-like plastered structure differing considerably from the temple’s architectural design. He constructs, as it were, an artistic vision of a reliquary devoted to Mother of Christ, a distinctive Ivory Tower mentioned in the catholic litany to Virgin Mary which was created a few centuries later. The last stage of the construction was covering the statue with mosaic. Such technique was unfamiliar to the art of the Teutonic State. Only two realizations from latter half of 14th century were executed in this technique, namely the mosaic “The Martyrdom of Saint John in Oil” on the southern façade of the cathedral in Kwidzyn and the aforesaid mosaic coating of the Malbork statue. These two works created between 1370 and 1380 are often connected with another such work executed in the same period, i.e. the mosaic of Saint Vitus cathedral in Prague. What is the origin, then, of the workshop responsible for these works? Historians associate it with the bishop of Kwidzyn Jan I Mnich, and its execution with the initiative of Jan of Kwidzyn, studying in Prague, where he was exposed to the abovementioned artwork. Multiple contacts of Grand Master’s court with royal courts of medieval Europe, particularly with that of Prague (the sculpture of Christ praying in Gethsemane from Saint Lawrence church at the Lower Castle in Malbork) indicate the likelihood of Bohemian inspiration. However, the lack of artists working in this technique in the eastern Europe as mentioned above hints at a probable arrival to the state of the Teutonic Order of an artist of Venetian background who specialized in such works and who executed both these realizations. Undeniably, these works endowed the locations where they were executed with great splendour and granted them a rank of artistic centres. The statue of Madonna had from then on always fascinated visitors to Malbork. Its descriptions often appear in travel accounts, as well as in memoirs and letters written by visitors and residents. Likewise, artists portray the statue in their works, to mention the 16th-century “A Brawl by the Malbork Castle” graphic by Moeller or numerous graphics from 19th century.

The nineteenth century saw a number of restoration and preservation works carried out on the gradually dilapidating sculpture. They were initialized by preservation work conducted between 1822 and 1823 by Italian master Gregori. He filled the gaps in the mosaic coating with mosaic material partly brought from Italy and partly made in Malbork. Further works were carried out between 1896 and 1870 by a Venetian Angelo Gagliardotti using the material supplied by Salvati, master of this craft. Subsequent works were undertaken in 1903. It was then, on April 21 that Madonna’s right hand, holding the orb came off. The replica of this element was made while the original with the remains of the mosaic is still in possession of the collection of architectural detail of Malbork museum. During these works small defects in the mosaic coating were replaced. Also a plaster cast of the head of Madonna was made. The photographs presented give an impression of the appearance of the eastern façade with the statue of Madonna standing in the recess.

It would seem that the castle after the restoration works conducted by Conrad Steinbrecht would last forever. Sadly, World War II broke out followed by the infamous winter of 1945. Along with the destruction of the castle church, the statue of Madonna – a symbol of Malbork – collapsed too. What was left was only a few cast-stone segments of the statue, stripped of the mosaic, painstakingly salvaged from the rubble. They are now displayed in one of the cellars of the Palace of Grand Masters. I need not say what the empty recess and the entire eastern façade look like – I will only present two photographs.

Our mission is to restore the statue to the location intended for it by the medieval builders. We are at the beginning of the way, with lots of formalities lying ahead, raising funds, as well as determining the manner and technique of restoration. We need to establish the restoration agenda, draw up the technical project and obtain approval of various authoritative bodies, invite a public tender and, finally, execute our idea and pass it to posterity. That is a lot when we realize that we do not know yet what technique will be implemented to create the replica of the statue. At this stage, we assume that we will not use the elements preserved. We intend to craft the new artwork as a shell structure made with the use of modern materials. We anticipate problems connected with making a copy of the mosaic as well as attaining the shiny effect of the entire surface of the statue known only from written accounts and scant photographs. We hope to succeed in attaining this objective. I dare say more: there is no alternative now, we must do it.