It is a rare stroke of luck for art lovers and a significant moment for the Bavarian State Painting Collections: they have succeeded in retaining a masterpiece of Old German painting for the public. We are talking about Hans Baldung's impressive depiction of ’The Virgin as Queen of Heaven’, a painting by this extraordinary Renaissance artist that was in private hands.

With this new acquisition, a piece of art history returns to a place where it can be experienced and studied in all its splendour: in the Alte Pinakothek. The work dates from the early 16th century and is impressive not only for its artistic quality, but also for its historical significance.

Hans Baldung, called Grien, is one of the most extraordinary artistic personalities of the Renaissance north of the Alps. He lived with his family in Schwäbisch Gmünd, worked for several years in Albrecht Dürer's workshop in Nuremberg and settled in Strasbourg in 1509, where he set up his own workshop. His works - from altarpieces and portraits to history paintings and mythological scenes - bear witness to a sophisticated pictorial invention. Above all, they reveal the great creativity and stylistic originality of their creator, who almost always arrived at unconventional solutions.

This is also the case with this painting: the depiction of the Mother of God as the Queen of Heaven is unusually combined with that of a ‘Maria lactans’, a breastfeeding Mother of God. While Mary appears with idealised features and finely curled hair, little Jesus reaches for his mother's breast in almost naturalistic realism. This contrast between supernatural grace and earthly directness lends the painting a very special character.

A transparent veil that descends from Mary's crown and appears to connect with the child's nappy creates a visual and contextual bridge - a subtle reference to the dual nature of Christ, divine and human at the same time. This is joined by an almost caricature-like figure of an angel in grisaille painting, gazing at the scene as if dazzled - another play on ambiguity that makes Baldung's work so fascinating.

This important acquisition was made possible in particular by the Pesl-Foundation Bavaria. Established in 1991 by Dr h. c. Rudolf Pesl and Maja Robert-Pesl, the foundation for the promotion of art, culture and education has positioned itself with this acquisition for the first time as a sponsor of high-calibre art acquisitions - and is thus sending a strong signal for the future.The purpose of the foundation is to fund works up to the middle of the 19th century for the Alte and Neue Pinakothek and the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum - ‘The Virgin as Queen of Heaven’ is a splendid start.

The acquisition was also supported by two long-standing partners of the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen: the Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung, which is dedicated to safeguarding important cultural assets in public collections, and the Pinakotheks-Verein, which strongly supports the Alte and Neue Pinakothek through acquisitions.

The new acquisition not only fulfils a desideratum in terms of content - namely a high-quality, small-format devotional painting by Baldung - but the painting also fits seamlessly into the Alte Pinakothek collection. It almost seems as if it was created for this place. Works of this quality are rare on the art market and hardly affordable for public institutions from their own funds - which makes the generous support behind this purchase all the more significant.

The framing of the painting also demonstrates care and expertise: the Pesl-Foundation made it possible to acquire an original 16th century profile frame (walnut wood, painted with shellac), which was found in Basel by the renowned company Knoell Rahmen. The framing not only enhances the effect of the painting, but also allows the work's temporality to be experienced in a particularly elegant way.

The provenance of the painting is also remarkable and well documented. Originally privately owned in Basel, it came to the Fürstlich Hohenzollern'sche Museum in Sigmaringen in 1907 and was acquired in 1928 by Robert von Hirsch, one of the most important art collectors of the Weimar Republic. After fleeing from the National Socialists, von Hirsch was able to save his collection in Basel. It was auctioned in London in 1978 after von Hirsch had ordered its dissolution in his will. After more than 30 years in a German private collection, Baldung's “The Virgin as Queen of Heaven” came into private American ownership in 2012, from where the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen were able to acquire the painting with the help of New York art dealer Nicolas Hall.

This masterpiece has not only closed an art-historical gap, but also opened a window - into a world full of ambivalence. From the beginning of June, Hans Baldung Grien's work will occupy a prominent place in the Alte Pinakothek collection - a must-see for all those who are enthusiastic about the Renaissance masters:

With the opening of the collection presentation "How pictures tell stories: Storytelling from Albrecht Altdorfer to Peter Paul Rubens", the work will be on display for the first time on the ground floor in the west wing of the Alte Pinakothek from 05 June.