Southern Netherlandish, dated 1527

Rouge Collection, Paris

Antwerp, Bank Brussel Lambert, Gotische Groepen uit Antwerps Privé-bezit, 1983

J. Boccador, Statuaire Médiévale de Collection, Paris, 1972, p. 196-197; B. Blondeel and P. Gervaert, Gotische Groepen uit Antwerps Privé-bezit, Antwerp, 1983, no. 53

Overall the condition of the group is good, with minor dirt and wear to the surface consistent with age. Given the age and complexity of the work, the overall state of preservation is remarkable. The separately-carved Christ Child is lost. There are a few further losses, including: the proper right hand of the left Angel; both hands of the right Angel; the right Angel's proper right wing and both of the left Angel's wings; the Virgin's thumbs; Joseph's proper left thumb; one of the hands holding the '1527' banner on each side; the arms of the cherubs holding the banderole; the finial of the gable; a few beams of the roof on the left side, and one small beam of the roof on the right side. There are some more minor chips and losses, several due to past worming, including to: Joseph's staff; the proper right hand of the Shepherd on the far left; the tip of the ass's proper right ear; Joseph's proper left foot; around the '1527' banner and the bottom corner on the left side; the 'Dukatenkacker' motif on the left side; and the edges of the bottom section. There is also minor evidence of past worming in other areas such as the vertical beam on the left, the Virgin's drapery, the kneeling Angels' drapery, and in particular at the back. Some of the beams of the structure have been replaced, including the vertical beam and arch on the right side, the central section at the top below the dragon's head, the horizontal beam on the far right side, and one beam beside the window on the right side. There are a few small holes to the back wall of the stable, some of which appear to be intentional. There is minor stable splitting to the wood, consistent with the material, notably to the back wall behind the donkey, and to a minor extent at the bottom of the composition. There is wear to the gilding and polychromy. Based on published photographs it appears that a later layer has been removed to reveal the current layer, some of which may be original. There are several minor losses to the polychromy throughout, including to: the terrasse at the front; the high points of the banderole; the '1527' banner and 'Dukatenkacker' motif on the left side; the stable on the left side; the lower leg and bag of the shepherd on the far left; the tip of the Virgin's nose; and the bottom of the left beam. There is no polychromy on the beams which are replaced. There is a small loss to the back bottom right corner.
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This wonderfully detailed representation of the Adoration of the Shepherds presents a rare opportunity to acquire a unique dated masterpiece of Netherlandish late Gothic wood sculpture. Sculpted as a free-standing structure, dated 1527 on each side, the present lot is an extraordinary survival of an object intended for private devotion. Central to the group are the Virgin and Joseph, sitting in Adoration of their new-born child, in a stable in slight disrepair – the thatched roof is patchy, and the brick wall that forms the background of the scene contains numerous gaps and holes. They are joined by the Shepherds, two angels, and the ox and the ass, combining motifs seen in depictions of both the Nativity and the Adoration of the Shepherds. Furthermore, there are numerous light-hearted and humorous aspects in the present group, such as the ass straining his neck to greedily help himself to more straw, the birds hiding in the thatch of the roof, and the shepherds, with their expressive faces, two deep in conversation, one playing the bagpipes in the background, and a fourth curiously peeking his head through the window, trying, with great effort, to insert himself into the scene.

Although previously attributed to different French regions, including Savoie (Boccador, op. cit. p. 196) and Northern France (Blondeel and Gevaert, op. cit. no. 53), there are numerous indications which allow for this work to be firmly attributed to the Southern Netherlands, and perhaps more specifically to Malines or its surrounding region. Evidence for this thesis can be derived both from stylistic comparisons, and from a general understanding of the artistic and devotional milieus in the Southern Netherlands towards the close of the Middle Ages. The Low Countries had a tradition of sculpting the Nativity in a similar manner as the present relief – with a multitude of characters, a prominent position for the ass and the ox, and a combination of the motifs of the Nativity and the Adoration of the Shepherds – examples can be found in the Museum Catharijneconvent in Utrecht, particularly the slightly earlier Adoration of the Shepherds (ABM bh258, op. cit. pp. 211-213), which once formed part of a retable, and the related, but free-standing, Nativity scene (ABM bh258, op. cit. pp. 210-211). Both dating to the late 15^th century, these scenes show a similar iconography to the present lot. They illustrate the Nativity according to the popular visions of the mystic Saint Bridget of Sweden. According to Bridget’s Revelations, the Christ Child was brought into the world without pain or suffering; the Virgin, in awe, immediately kneeled down on the floor next to the Child to adore him. The visions of Saint Bridget gained widespread popularity during the 15^th century and had an enormous influence on art, in particular on Early Netherlandish panel painters such as Robert Campin, Hieronymus Bosch, and Hans Memling. It is not unlikely that the present group is based on a print or a painting of an Early Netherlandish master.

Although the groups in Museum Catharijneconvent compare in iconography, they can be seen to differ stylistically with the present group. Studying the features and the drapery of the present group, notably the dress, the long, uncovered, hair, and the round, lovely, facial features of the Virgin, Malines seems the most likely region of attribution. Indeed, the features of the Virgin seem to adhere to the famous Malines poupée type: compare to a Virgin, part of an Annunciation group, attributed to Malines, circa 1520, exhibited in Brussels in 1999 (Huysmans ed., op. cit., cat. no. 66). Another significant comparison can be made to a kneeling Virgin in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, which was originally part of a Nativity group: close comparisons can be found in the manner of the drapery, the tresses of hair, and the fact that she is placed on a sloping surface, perhaps originally intended for a similar group as the present (inv. no. N.M. 11963). The motif of the ass with outstretched neck is repeated in a set of fragments from an Antwerp retable – identified with the Antwerp guild mark – also exhibited in the 1999 Brussels exhibition: these fragments further show a similarly bricked wall with thatched roof, where the shepherds, with grimacing, slightly crude faces, can be seen to peek through (Huysmans ed., op. cit., p. 163). Another group on which the particularly the faces compare to the present lot is in the Gruuthusemuseum in Bruges, catalogued as Flanders, 15^th century (Foto Marburg no. 1.154.943). Lastly, going back to the above-mentioned Annunciation in the same exhibition, the characteristically uplifting hair of the angel, similar to the angels on the present lot, provides further argument for a Malines attribution. The same characteristic hair, together with similar dress, can be seen on the angels of a slightly earlier Southern Netherlandish wood crib, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. no. 1974.121a-d). This crib also features a scene of the Nativity on the footplate, where the Virgin is seen to be kneeling under a very similar thatched roof.

Although further comparisons between the present lot and some Brabant retables can be made, such as that of the Passion and the Infancy of Christ (Paris, op. cit., cat. no. 176) or the retable of the Life of the Virgin, now in Strängnäs (Périer-D’Ieteren, op. cit., fig. 8), the significance of the present group being free-standing must be addressed. As such, it would have formed an object for private devotion, a so-called Andachtsbild, which would have served as the focal point for contemplation either in the home, or in a private chapel. The angels holding a banderol which depicts all the instruments of Christ’s Passion, at the bottom of the present lot, reinforce this notion. The Low Countries, where the devotio moderna of Thomas a Kempis, promoting private contemplation on Christ’s humanity and suffering, gained widespread popularity, was the prime location for the production of small, self-contained objects and portable altarpieces that invoked contemplation. Notably in Flanders, and in the Malines area, objects intended for private prayer were produced. The above mentioned crib in the Met is one such object, created by Béguine sisters who would donate these to nuns about to take their orders. Further objects, also usually created by nuns, are the horti conclusi, or enclosed gardens, of which several survive in the Municipal Museums of Malines, which also served as foci for private contemplation of the divine. All these objects, as does the present lot, highlight the importance of the incarnation of Christ as a human, and focus on the Nativity and Adoration of the Child. The present group, which so clearly invites contemplation on both the Nativity at the centre, but also Christ’s suffering which can be ‘read’ at the bottom, therefore would fit neatly within the Malines and wider Flemish traditions of objects intended for private prayer, not unlikely to have also been created by nuns. With its humorous aspects and slightly tongue-in-cheek details, such as the secular motif of the Dukatenkacker on the left hand side, this remarkable Adoration would have allowed for hours of contemplation, but perhaps also amusement.  

RELATED LITERATURE
Gómez-Moreno, Medieval Art from Private Collections, a Special Exhibiton at the Cloisters, exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum, New York, 1968, no. 218; J. Leeuwenberg, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, Museum Catalogue, Amsterdam, 1973, no. 134; A. Huysmans (ed.), La Sculpture des Pays-Bas méridionaux et de la Principauté de Liège, exh. cat. Musées Royaux d’Art et d’Histoire, Brussels, 1999, nos. 66, 79, 80; C. Périer-D’Ieteren, ‘Rapports entre sculpture, polychromie et volets peints dans les retables bruxellois conservés en Suède’, in S. Guillot de Suduiraut (ed.), Retables brabançons des XVe et XVIe siècles, Paris, 2002, pp. 311-344, fig. 8; M. van Vlierden, Hout- en Steensculptuur van Museum Catharijneconvent, ca. 1200-1600, Utrecht, 2004, pp. 210-212; Paris, France 1500: Entre Moyen Age et Renaissance, exh. cat. Galeries nationales, Grand Palais, Paris, 2010, no. 176; D. Preising and M. Rief (eds.) Mittelalterliche Bildwerke aus Utrecht, 1430-1530, Aachen, 2013, nos. 43 and 44; Bildarchiv Foto Marburg, no. 1.154.943,
http://www.bildindex.de/document/obj20040593?medium=be00038e08 [page last accessed 30/05/2017]