The Fallen Madonna

"The Fallen Madonna" by the fictional painter Van Clomp was a portrait of a bare breasted woman which provided a recurring theme of the long-running BBC One television comedy series "'Allo 'Allo!" (1984-92), written by David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd. The painting was always referred to as "the Fallen Madonna with the big boobies". ["Boob" is slang for "breast": see "Oxford Pocket Dictionary" (8th ed, 1992).] The first episode of the first series of "Allo 'Allo!" (1984) was entitled "The Fallen Madonna". [Broadcast on 14 September 1984] In an earlier pilot the painting was referred to as the "reclining" Madonna.

Recurring theme in "Allo 'Allo!"

"'Allo 'Allo!" was set in the fictional French town of Nouvion during the German occupation of the Second World War. Its focus was a café in the town square run by René Artois (played by Gorden Kaye). There were sustained attempts by the occupiers to appropriate the "Fallen Madonna", a local treasure, to provide a "" after the war. Among those who coveted it were the local German commandant Colonel Erich Von Strohm (Richard Marner) and the "Führer" Adolf Hitler himself on whose behalf Herr Otto Flick (Richard Gibson) of the "Gestapo" was instructed to secure it (but, of course, also wanted it for himself).

The painting was seen and hidden in various guises; it was often secreted, with suggestive possibilities, in a long "knockwurst" sausage. Forgeries were also in evidence. On one occasion Herr Flick drew attention to "three Fallen Madonnas with six big boobies". [ "The Return of 'Allo 'Allo!" (BBC), 28 April 2007]

Forgeries and Destructions

An incredible number of forgeries of the Fallen Madonna were made, mostly by Lieutenant Gruber, which were naturally hidden in knockwurst sausages in René's kitchen. The forgeries were subsequently destroyed in various ways (burned, blown up, minced, etc.). At one point, Madame Fanny accidentally took a bite off one of the corners, and in series 8 Private Helga Geerhart removed a breast in order to safeguard her rights to the painting, thus renaming it "the Fallen Madonna with the missing boobie".

Lord Bath

Following his assistance with an event connected with the programme, the BBC presented the 6th Marquess of Bath with a specially commissioned copy of the "Fallen Madonna" which was hung alongside Old Masters in Bath's ancestral home, Longleat. [The Sun, Dec 9, 2005, " [http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article192597.ece TV Fallen Madonna found] " by John Cole. Retrieved from online edition on April 7, 2008.] [Wiltshire Times, Dec 16, 2005, " [http://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/warminsternews/display.var.662806.0.say_allo_to_new_longleat_feature.php Say ‘Allo’ to new Longleat feature] ". Retrieved from online edition on April 7, 2008.] ["The Return of 'Allo 'Allo!" (BBC), 28 April 2007]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2005570130,00.html "The Sun": TV Fallen Madonna Found]