Panel with a Wild Man Supporting an Escutcheon, from the Organ of the Sint-Vituskerk, Naarden

Carved in relief and originally polychromed.

In view of the holes, mouldings are probably missing from the flat gothic arches. The polychromy has been removed with a caustic. It was in a neo-gothic timber casing together with (BK-KOG-668-A to -E) when it was in Lieutenant General Meyers’s collection.¹¹See Meyers, Collection d’objets d’art anciens: Pièces choisies dans le cabinet d’un amateur, Brussels 1877, pl. 9.

...; part of the organ of the Sint-Vituskerk, Naarden, dismantled in 1862;²²E. Colinet and A.D. de Vries Az, Kunstvoorwerpen uit vroegere eeuwen, exh. cat. Amsterdam (Paleis voor Volksvlijt) 1877, commentary pl. XXVII. purchased by M. van Vledder, Harderwijk, 1862;³³Note KOG. from whom purchased by Lieutenant General Meyers, Brussels, first documented in 1877;⁴⁴Meyers, Collection d’objets d’art ancienes: Pièces choisies dans le cabinet d’un amateur, Brussels 1877, pl. 9. from whom, fl. 2,400, to the Koninklijk Oudheidkundig Genootschap, 1881; on loan to the museum since 1885

ObjectNumber: BK-KOG-668-B

Credit line: On loan from the Koninklijk Oudheidkundig Genootschap

This oak relief comes from the late-gothic organ in the Sint-Vituskerk (Grote Kerk) in Naarden. The organ was dismantled in 1862 and fifteen (possibly all) of the carved reliefs that adorned it were subsequently sold. On the ten narrow, openwork panels are knights standing on a console with an escutcheon at their feet; this they hold on a strap (BK-KOG-669-A, -669-B, -669-C, -670-A, -670-B, -670-C, -664, -665, -666 and -667). The other four panels have a griffin, a wild man, an eagle and a lion, each likewise holding an escutcheon (BK-KOG-668-A, -668-B, -668-C and -668-D).⁸⁸Similar fantastical shield-bearing figures are incorporated in the parapet of the choir screen in St Bavo’s in Haarlem, which dates from 1509 to 1517. See A.M. Koldeweij, ‘Over Jan Fierens, geelgieter te Mechelen’, in De Bavo te boek. Bij het gereedkomen van de restauratie van de Grote of St.-Bavokerk te Haarlem, Haarlem 1985, pp. 150-55, esp. pp. 153-54, fig. 99, 102. Lastly, there is a half-length figure of a woman praying (BK-KOG-668-E) that belonged to the organ. Traces indicate that the carving was originally wholly or partially polychromed.

In 1996 Klinckaert was able to convincingly identify the maker of the organ panels, who had already been sought on stylistic grounds among the followers of Adriaen van Wesel,⁹⁹J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, no. 11, p. 58; W. Halsema-Kubes et al., Adriaen van Wesel. Een Utrechtse beeldhouwer uit de late middeleeuwen (ca. 1417/ ca. 1490), exh. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 1980-81, p. 130. as the important Utrecht sculptor and woodcarver Jan Eerstensz van Schayck.¹⁰¹⁰Kunst und Region: Gotik und Spätgotik, Colloquium Halle (Martin-Luther-Universität), 20 November 1996. This attribution was first published in J.W. Klinckaert, ‘Jan van Schayck (ca. 1470-1527). Beeldhouwer in Utrecht’, in 32e Kunst- en Antiekbeurs Breda, Breda 1998, pp. 15-18. He based his identification on the stylistic resemblance to two commissions Van Schayk undertook in 1497 for the cathedral in Utrecht: the oak sacristy with fine tracery and escutcheons, which is still in situ, and eight sandstone keystones from the library, four with symbols of the Evangelists (Victoria and Albert Museum, London), three with the Church Fathers Augustine, Jerome and Gregory (Centraal Museum, Utrecht) and one with God the Father (Museum Catharijneconvent, Utrecht).¹¹¹¹For a detailed stylistic comparison, see J.W. Klinckaert, ‘Jan Eerstenss. van Schayck (ca. 1470 - before 1527): “beeldesnyder’’ in Utrecht’, in B. Rommé (ed.), Der Niederrhein und die Alten Niederlande. Kunst und Kultur im späten Mittelalter. Referate des Kolloquiums zur Ausstellung ‘Gegen den Strom. Meisterwerke niederrheinischer Bildschnitzkunst in Zeiten der Reformation (1500-1550)’, Bielefeld 1999, pp. 199-200 and figs. 1-6. For the keystones, see M. Leeflang et al., Middeleeuwse beelden uit Utrecht 1430-1530/Mittelalterliche Bildwerke aus Utrecht, exh. cat. Utrecht (Museum Catharijneconvent)/Aachen (Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum) 2012-13, no. 41.

Van Schayck’s very distinctive graphic hand emerges from these documented works. His figures have relatively small heads with fine features and rather melancholy expressions, swollen eyelids and stringy hair: characteristics that also occur in the shield-bearers on the organ panels. It was not the only time Van Schayck was involved in decorating an organ. In November 1502 he was paid for carvings on the organ, now lost, in Utrecht Cathedral.¹²¹²J.W. Klinckaert ‘Jan Eerstenss. van Schayck (ca. 1470-before 1527): “beeldesnyder’’ in Utrecht’, in B. Rommé (ed.), Der Niederrhein und die Alten Niederlande. Kunst und Kultur im späten Mittelalter. Referate des Kolloquiums zur Ausstellung ‘Gegen den Strom. Meisterwerke niederrheinischer Bildschnitzkunst in Zeiten der Reformation (1500-1550)’, Bielefeld 1999, p. 200; N.B. Tenhaeff et al., Bronnen tot de bouwgeschiedenis van de Dom te Utrecht, vol. 2, The Hague 1969, p. 601.

Unfortunately there are no surviving records of the background of the organ in Naarden. We do not know who commissioned it, nor exactly what the instrument originally looked like. The disposition of the organ has been radically altered and extended many times over the centuries, so that the drawing made by Gerard Arentzen shortly before the organ was taken to pieces (fig. a) bears little resemblance to the original sixteenth-century situation. Only eight of the fifteen surviving elements are shown in this drawing. It is not clear whether the missing pieces have ‘vanished’ in the perspective or had already been physically removed from the organ at that time.

Arentzen noted on the back of the drawing that the date that the organ was made had been found as it was being dismantled, but neglected to mention the year. The instrument is generally dated to around 1520,¹³¹³J. Kroonenburg et al., De Grote Kerk in Naarden, Naarden 1984, p. 64. but given the praying woman’s dress (BK-KOG-668-E) and the overall style of the decorative panels, the carving could actually have been done ten years earlier.¹⁴¹⁴J.W. Klinckaert, ‘Jan Eerstenss. van Schayck (ca. 1470-before 1527): “beeldesnyder’’ in Utrecht’, in B. Rommé (ed.), Der Niederrhein und die Alten Niederlande. Kunst und Kultur im späten Mittelalter. Referate des Kolloquiums zur Ausstellung ‘Gegen den Strom. Meisterwerke niederrheinischer Bildschnitzkunst in Zeiten der Reformation (1500-1550)’, Bielefeld 1999, p. 200.

In 1907 and 1921 respectively, Vogelsang and Bierens de Haan attempted to reconstruct the original position of the panels.¹⁵¹⁵W. Vogelsang, ‘Bijdrage over het oude orgel uit de St.-Vituskerk te Naarden’, Bulletin van de Nederlandschen Oudheidkundigen Bond 8 (1907), pp. 168-73; D. Bierens de Haan, Het houtsnijwerk in Nederland tijdens de Gothiek en de Renaissance, The Hague 1921, pp. 75-76. They based this in part on other gothic organ cases, such as those from the churches of Scheemda (c. 1526) and Harenkarspel, both in the Rijksmuseum’s collection (BK-NM-8184 and -8685). The four large panels with the shield-bearing creatures and the wild man (BK-KOG-668-A, -668-B, -668-C and -668-D) could, they suggested, have formed the arched wings of the organ that protected the pipes of the manual above the gallery, as in the Scheemda organ.¹⁶¹⁶According to W. Vogelsang, (‘Bijdrage over het oude orgel uit de St.-Vituskerk te Naarden’, Bulletin van de Nederlandschen Oudheidkundigen Bond 8 (1907), pp. 168-73, esp. pp. 172-73) however, the rectangular panels were the door panels in the register below the wings. The narrow panels with the knights decorated the railing. It is not clear whether they were placed in a straight field side by side, or at right angles. The low position of the knights relative to the shield-bearing creatures is confirmed by the fact that they contain far more details. The small figure of the praying woman was probably the terminal of a dripstone.

The way the knights are positioned in very different poses, finely dressed, with prominent heraldic symbols in an architectural setting is rooted in the pictorial tradition of series of rulers. This series, however, is not clear. The painted devices on the escutcheons which would have helped identifying the knights have been lost along with the rest of the original polychromy.

It has been suggested more than once in the past that these oak reliefs represent the Nine Worthies, with an added tenth hero.¹⁷¹⁷First put forward by Lieutenant General Meyers, written communication, 5 May 1877. See E. Colinet and A.D. de Vries Az, Kunstvoorwerpen uit vroegere eeuwen, exh. cat. Amsterdam (Paleis voor Volksvlijt) 1877, commentary pl. XXVII; J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, no. 11, p. 58; J.W. Klinckaert, ‘Jan van Schayck (ca. 1470-1527). Beeldhouwer in Utrecht’, 32e Kunst- en Antiekbeurs Breda, Breda 1998, pp. 15-18, esp. p. 17. This series of nine historical, scriptural and legendary personages, very popular in the late Middle Ages, consists of three good pagans, Hector, Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar; three good Jews, Joshua, David and Judas Maccabeus; and three good Christians, King Arthur, Charlemagne and Godfrey of Bouillon.¹⁸¹⁸For this theme, see R.L. Wyss, ‘Die neun Helden. Eine ikonographische Studie’, Zeitschrift für schweizerische Archäologie und Kunstgeschichte 17 (1957), pp. 73-106; E. Kirschbaum (ed.), Lexikon der christlichen Ikonographie, vol. 2, Freiburg 1970, cols 235-36; H. Schroeder, Der Topos der Nine Worthies in Literatur und bildender Kunst, Göttingen 1971; V.M. Schmidt, ‘De Negen Besten in de Nederlanden’, Antiek 25 (1990-91), pp. 443-49; W. van Anrooij, Helden van weleer. De Negen Besten in de Nederlanden (1300-1700), Amsterdam 1997. King Arthur is usually depicted with a battle-axe, and could possibly be identified as the knight in armour facing left (BK-KOG-666). Cf. the prints by Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen (Hollstein 145) and Hans Burgkmair (Hollstein 247.1). The knights with Jewish-looking caps and turbans (BK-KOG-670-A, -670-B, -664 and -665) could be Jewish princes. It may be significant that Hector appears in a Dutch woodcut of the Nine Worthies dating from around 1490 and 1500 in a similar, but certainly not identical way, with his back turned to the viewer, to one of the knights on the Naarden organ panels (BK-KOG-670-B), cf. Van Anrooij 1997 (this note), fig. 30. With thanks to Wim van Anrooij for this insight (written communication, 4 November 2009). Although rarely, the originally French tradition of adding a tenth hero to the series also occurs in the Netherlands.¹⁹¹⁹There are four known examples – none, however, from the period of the Naarden organ panels. See W. van Anrooij, Helden van weleer. De Negen Besten in de Nederlanden (1300-1700), Amsterdam 1997, pp. 100-01. This ‘Tenth Worthy’ was variable. As a rule a great contemporary hero who was well known locally would be chosen. In the case of the Naarden organ panels, a possibility could be the then Governor of the Netherlands, and from 1519 the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V. His arms and likeness appear in the Sint-Vituskerk in one of the barrel vault decorations (1518) and the choir screen (1531) respectively.²⁰²⁰See J. Kroonenburg et al., De Grote Kerk in Naarden, Naarden 1984, pp. 27, 46, 50. Although this ruler was not particularly renowned for his heroism, in the Naarden context he would appear to be a more appropriate candidate than Meyers’s suggestion, the army commander Bertrand du Guesclin (1320-1380), who was the best-known Tenth Worthy in French-oriented circles.²¹²¹Written communication, Lieutenant General Meyers, 5 May 1877; E. Colinet and A.D. de Vries Az, Kunstvoorwerpen uit vroegere eeuwen, exh. cat. Amsterdam (Paleis voor Volksvlijt) 1877, commentary pl. XXVII. None of the knights on the Naarden panels has the outward characteristics of this Habsburg monarch, however, so the hypothesis remains highly speculative.

Because of the unusual presence of a Tenth Worthy in the Low Countries, Schmidt rejects the identification of the knights as the Worthies. He also points out that none of the figures wears a clearly recognizable crown with high arches, whereas Charlemagne was seldom pictured without one.²²²²Written communication, Victor Schmidt, 19 May 2009. According to Schmidt the Counts of Holland are a more likely series. In that case, the knight with the Tau cross around his neck (BK-KOG-669-A) might be Albert of Bavaria, supposedly the founder of the Order of St Anthony.²³²³It could also be one of his sons, John of Bavaria or William VI, who supposedly also belonged to the order. However, Albert and his sons were usually pictured with the Antony Bell, see the bronze figure of Albert of Bavaria, one of the weepers on the grave of Isabella of Bourbon (BK-AM-33-B) and the wooden figure of William VI from the Amsterdamse Vierschaar in the Amsterdam Museum, see R. van Luttervelt, ‘Bijdragen tot de Iconographie van de Graven van Holland naar aanleiding van de beelden uit de Amsterdamse vierschaar’, Oud Holland 72 (1957), pp. 73-91, fig. 1. There are, though, no conclusive parallels in the series of counts we know of with which the other knights could be identified.²⁴²⁴The most famous series is the painted one from the Haarlem Carmelite monastery dating from around 1490 (moved to the town hall there in 1578), see W. van Anrooij, Helden van weleer. De Negen Besten in de Nederlanden (1300-1700), Amsterdam 1997. We are also faced with far too few men. At the time the organ was built a complete set of counts of Holland consisted of no fewer than twenty-eight counts, plus countesses.²⁵²⁵For the counts of Holland, see D.E.H. de Boer and E.H.P. Cordfunke, Graven van Holland. Portretten in woord en beeld (880-1580), Zutphen 1995. All in all, none of the theories about the identity of the Naarden panels so far put forward is really satisfactory.

We know of no other Northern Netherlandish organs with a similar series of princes or knights. It is therefore remarkable to find it in a church rather than in the context of a castle or government building, where one would expect it.²⁶²⁶In the tribunal of the old town hall in Amsterdam, for instance, there were four figures of counts, see R. van Luttervelt, ‘Bijdragen tot de Iconographie van de Graven van Holland naar aanleiding van de beelden uit de Amsterdamse vierschaar’, Oud Holland 72 (1957), pp. 73-91. There was a set of counts on the rood-loft in the counts’ chapel in the Binnenhof in The Hague,²⁷²⁷R.J. van Pelt and M.E. Tiethoff-Spliethoff (eds.), Het Binnenhof. Van grafelijke residentie tot regeringscentrum, Dieren 1984, pp. 36-39. but in that case there was an obvious connection with the founders and users of the chapel. The iconographic programme of the Naarden organ case was probably similarly linked to the identity of the person or people who commissioned it. Their heraldic devices would originally have appeared on the escutcheons held by the four shield-bearing creatures on the large panels. The four blazons Gerard Arentzen reproduced in colour in his 1862 drawing were most likely seventeenth- or eighteenth-century overpaintings and not the original coats of arms.²⁸²⁸J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, p. 58. The arms with the eyes on an azure field held by the wild man belongs to the Heshuysen family, a member of whom was first appointed Naarden church warden in 1693.²⁹²⁹Information G. Slaap in the Naardense Kerkklok, 6 September 1949, note RMA.

In the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford) there is a three-dimensional copy of one of the organ panels (BK-KOG-667) which Hugh Paget, director of the British Council, acquired in an Amsterdam antique shop in the late 1950s as an authentic medieval work.³⁰³⁰Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, inv. no. WA 1982.284, see J. Warren, Medieval and Renaissance Sculpture, vol. 2, coll. cat. Oxford (Ashmolean Museum) 2014, no. 228. See no. 227 for a likewise neo-gothic Virgin and Child he bought from the same shop. It is most likely a deliberate forgery made specifically for the trade.

Bieke van der Mark, 2024

T. Wevers, Het oude orgel te Naarden en het muziekleven in Naarden voor 1795, Utrecht 1972 (unpub. thesis University of Utrecht), pp. 4-5; J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, no. 19, with earlier literature; W. Halsema-Kubes et al., Adriaen van Wesel. Een Utrechtse beeldhouwer uit de late middeleeuwen (ca. 1417/ ca. 1490), exh. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 1980-81, no. 27; J. Kroonenburg et al., De Grote Kerk in Naarden, Naarden 1984, p. 68; A. van Swigchem et al., Een huis voor het Woord. Het protestantse kerkinterieur in Nederland tot 1900, The Hague 1984, pp. 236-37; J.W. Klinckaert, ‘Jan van Schayck (ca. 1470-1527). Beeldhouwer in Utrecht’, in 32e Kunst- en Antiekbeurs Breda, Breda 1998, pp. 15-18; J.W. Klinckaert, ‘Jan Eerstenss. van Schayck (ca. 1470-before 1527): “beeldesnyder’’ in Utrecht’, in B. Rommé (ed.), Der Niederrhein und die Alten Niederlande. Kunst und Kultur im späten Mittelalter. Referate des Kolloquiums zur Ausstellung ‘Gegen den Strom. Meisterwerke niederrheinischer Bildschnitzkunst in Zeiten der Reformation (1500-1550)’, Bielefeld 1999, pp. 199-200; Scholten in F. Houben et al., Deftige Devotie, exh. cat. Uden (Museum voor Religieuze Kunst) 2003, pp. 107-08; M. van Vlierden et al., Hout- en steensculptuur van Museum Catharijneconvent ca. 1200-1600, coll. cat. Utrecht 2004, p. 194; M. Leeflang et al., Middeleeuwse beelden uit Utrecht 1430-1530/Mittelalterliche Bildwerke aus Utrecht, exh. cat. Utrecht (Museum Catharijneconvent)/Aachen (Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum) 2012-13, pp. 75, 257; N. van den Berg, B. van der Mark and T. Mostert, Bewaard voor Nederland in het Rijksmuseum. Ruim 300 voorwerpen van het Koninklijk Oudheidkundig Genootschap in de vaste opstelling van het Rijksmuseum te Amsterdam, coll. cat. Amsterdam (Koninklijk Oudheidkundig Genootschap) 2013, pp. 18-19; Van der Mark in F. Scholten (ed.), 1100-1600, coll. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 2015, no. 55

B. van der Mark, 2024, 'Jan van Schayck, Panel with a Wild Man Supporting an Escutcheon, from the Organ of the Sint-Vituskerk, Naarden, Utrecht, c. 1510 - c. 1520', in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.24274