Circle of the Master of the Hakendover Altarpiece (fl. 1400-1420) South Netherlandish, Brussels, early 15th century

Overall the condition of the wood is good with dirt and wear to the surface consistent with age. The relief has been carved in sections and a joint line is visible down the left hand side. There is a loss to the centre of the relief and there are some further smaller losses throughout. There is some stable splitting to the wood, most prominently to the base. There is a lacuna to the drapery of the top left figure. There is some very minor stable worming, visible to the right side of the relief and the reverse. There is some greening to the wood.
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In the fifteenth century Brussels became the artistic hub of the Burgundian Netherlands. Lucrative commissions, both secular and sacred, attracted artists from nearby regions and helped the development and diversification of local art. One such artist was the anonymous sculptor today known as the Master of the Hakendover Altarpiece, after his earliest known surviving work. He probably hailed from the Meuse Valley or the north-eastern Netherlands, but settled in Brussels at the turn of the century. He was a prolific and versatile artist whose influence was such that his later works are used as a means of establishing the dates of works from other contemporary sculptors (Steyaert, op. cit., p. 70).

The present wood relief compares closely with a retable fragment of Saint Peter by the Master of the Hakendover Altarpiece (illustrated by Steyaert, op. cit., p. 149). In both, we see rhythmic curves boldly contrasted with the angular lines of the landscape. Following closely in chronological order, the present relief represents the prescient Christ amidst his sleepy followers in the Garden of Gethsemane, while Saint Peter takes a moment after the arrest and grieves his denial of Christ. The figures are set into a hostile environment as a powerful symbol of their denied rest. The two works also compare closely for their drapery which falls in thick folds and angular crumples, while their faces are carved similarly sunken and finely articulated. Another comparable retable fragment is the Nativity from Brussels in the Ramerupt, Saint-Roch (op. cit. p. 146). While the form of the figures differs, there is a similar dynamic between them and the boldly formed landscape. Steyaert consequently suggests the stylistic influence of the Master of the Hakendover Altarpiece on this work (op. cit., p. 146).

RELATED LITERATURE
J.W. Steyaert, Late Gothic sculpture. The Burgundian Netherlands, Ghent, 1994, pp. 68-73 and 146-149