Christmas - Austria / II. Republic of Austria 1977 - 3 Shilling

The brand motif shows the wooden sculpture "The enthroned Madonna and Child" (c. 1470) from the pilgrimage church of Mariastein in Tyrol. On a 12-meter-high, steeply sloping outcrop of rock, the "stone", there rises a 42-meter-high tower, which is shielded by the back of the Angerberg against the Inn Valley. The former castle on the stone is a built under optimal utilization of the given area residential tower of the late Middle Ages, whose elbe complex including the original staircase tower has never been significantly changed. This building houses the Mariastein church and the miraculous image. Stylistically, the figure can be dated to the last quarter of the 15th century. The broken folds, the high-seated belt under which Mary's dress falls on her lap, are characteristics of this epoch. The head of the mother is slightly angled, the hair protruding under the high crown falls down over the shoulders. With her left hand, she shows an apple to the unclothed child sitting on her right knee, while the baby Jesus raises his rights blessing.