Carved and probably originally polychromed. Finished entirely in the round. Two mortises in the figure’s back (now filled with wood) indicate where the separately carved wings, now lost, would have been attached. Workbench holes can be observed in the head, one of which has been filled.

The hands, wings and part of the toes are missing. A large crack at the level of the left shoulder has been filled with two wedges. Cracks resulting from the removal of a later polychromy, possibly together with the original polychromy, can be discerned.

…; on loan to the museum from E.A. Garnier Heldewier, since 1877; from whom purchased by the museum, 1894; on loan to the Museum Krona (formerly known as the Museum voor Religieuze Kunst), Uden, inv. no. 0022, since 1974

Object number: BK-NM-3317

This enchanting angel, whose wings are missing, is dressed as a cleric or priest during Mass, wearing a pluviale (cope), alb (a long white robe) and amice (a white cloth worn about the neck and shoulders). In the nineteenth century, the sculpture was modified with additions (now removed) to reflect an interpretation of this work as an Angel of the Annunciation with banderole (fig. a). In this case, the angel would originally have been accompanied by a sculpture of the Virgin Mary. The angel’s standing, frontal pose and the placid manner in which his robes fall to the ground, however, in no way suggest a descent from above. The now missing hands were more likely holding up several Arma Christi (the instruments of Christ’s Passion). In the late Middle Ages, carved images of angels presenting the Arma Christi and dressed in the vestments of a priest or deacon were very popular, especially in the Rhineland but also in the Low Countries and northern France (cf. BK-16383).¹¹G. Lemmens, ‘Engel mit den Arma Christi’, in G. de Werd et al., Heilige aus Holz, exh. cat. Cleves (Museum Kurhaus Kleve) 1998, pp. 24-37. These statues, appearing in pairs or fours, were often placed on individual columns standing on either side of the main altar in the chancel, where their presence emphasized the liturgy’s connection to Christ’s suffering and death.²²For the iconography, see M.B. McNamee, Vested Angels: Eucharistic Allusions in Early Netherlandish Painting, Leuven 1998. When surmounting a column as a freestanding figure, these angels were necessarily carved and finished on all sides, as is the present sculpture.

Receiving virtually no attention in art historical literature, the present angel has variably been described as a work originating from the Rhineland, the Lower Rhine in Germany or the eastern Netherlands, but without further elucidation.³³For the iconography, see M.B. McNamee, Vested Angels: Eucharistic Allusions in Early Netherlandish Painting, Leuven 1998. Indeed, an intermingling of stylistic influences from these various regions can be observed. The overall composition, the angel’s dehanchement with the clearly accentuated knee bending inwards, and the V-shaped drapery folds, with the train of the cope gathered at the right hip, can all be traced back to Master Arnt (active c. 1460-d. 1492), an influential woodcarver active both in the Lower Rhenish city of Kalkar and the eastern Netherlandish city of Zwolle.⁴⁴For the iconography, see M.B. McNamee, Vested Angels: Eucharistic Allusions in Early Netherlandish Painting, Leuven 1998. Nevertheless, the characteristic facial type, with the round jawline, high forehead and sharply carved, almond shaped eyes, points decisively in the direction of Master Tilman (active 1487-d. 1515) or his workshop. This master has been convincingly identified by Fabian as Tilman Heysacker, also known as Krayndunck,⁵⁵Master Tilman was long identified as the stone carver Tilman van der Burch, a name that frequently appears in the Cologne archives. In 1977, however, Fabian convincingly argued that Master Tilman was instead to be identified as Tilman Heysacker, also known as ‘Krayndunck’, who is explicitly cited as ‘Bildensnidern’ (G. Fabian, ‘Kruzifixe von Tilman: Neufunde zum Werk und zur Person eines Kölnischen Bildschnitzers’, Kölner Domblatt 42 (1977), pp. 267-76). This identification has since gained general acceptance (see R. Karrenbrock et al., Die Holzskulpturen des Mittelalters II: 1400 bis 1540. Teil 1: Köln, Westfalen, Norddeutschland, coll. cat. Cologne (Museum Schnütgen) 2001, pp. 28-52). a sculptor well-documented in the city of Cologne. Heysacker is the most important follower of Master Arnt and generally considered his apprentice.⁶⁶Master Tilman was long identified as the stone carver Tilman van der Burch, a name that frequently appears in the Cologne archives. In 1977, however, Fabian convincingly argued that Master Tilman was instead to be identified as Tilman Heysacker, also known as ‘Krayndunck’, who is explicitly cited as ‘Bildensnidern’ (G. Fabian, ‘Kruzifixe von Tilman: Neufunde zum Werk und zur Person eines Kölnischen Bildschnitzers’, Kölner Domblatt 42 (1977), pp. 267-76). This identification has since gained general acceptance (see R. Karrenbrock et al., Die Holzskulpturen des Mittelalters II: 1400 bis 1540. Teil 1: Köln, Westfalen, Norddeutschland, coll. cat. Cologne (Museum Schnütgen) 2001, pp. 28-52). Between circa 1470 and 1515, he oversaw the leading woodcarver’s workshop in his city. Among Master Tilman’s documented works are the monumental tomb for Gerhard II von Sayn and his wife, Elisabeth von Sierck in the abbey church of Marienstatt in Westerwald (1487-88), and the six life-size apostle statues in the Sankt-Servatius-Kirche in Siegburg (1509-10).⁷⁷Master Tilman was long identified as the stone carver Tilman van der Burch, a name that frequently appears in the Cologne archives. In 1977, however, Fabian convincingly argued that Master Tilman was instead to be identified as Tilman Heysacker, also known as ‘Krayndunck’, who is explicitly cited as ‘Bildensnidern’ (G. Fabian, ‘Kruzifixe von Tilman: Neufunde zum Werk und zur Person eines Kölnischen Bildschnitzers’, Kölner Domblatt 42 (1977), pp. 267-76). This identification has since gained general acceptance (see R. Karrenbrock et al., Die Holzskulpturen des Mittelalters II: 1400 bis 1540. Teil 1: Köln, Westfalen, Norddeutschland, coll. cat. Cologne (Museum Schnütgen) 2001, pp. 28-52). In addition, numerous other works have been convincingly attributed to the Tilman workshop, including the central scene from a house altar representing the Death of the Virgin in New York, of which the carved-relief wings are today preserved in Enschede.⁸⁸New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no. 1973.348; Enschede, Rijksmuseum Twenthe, inv. no. 0500 (1 and 2).

Direct parallels exist for the sensitively modelled face of the Amsterdam angel with its plump cheeks, almond-shaped, half-closed eyes, the full, smiling mouth positioned low in the face, and the tiny chin, specifically in various female and angel figures attributed to Master Tilman. Examples include the Female Saint (Virgin Mary?) in the Schnütgen Museum⁹⁹R. Karrenbrock et al., Die Holzskulpturen des Mittelalters II: 1400 bis 1540. Teil 1: Köln, Westfalen, Norddeutschland, coll. cat. Cologne (Museum Schnütgen) 2001, no. 42. and an Angel from an Annunciation group in a private collection.¹⁰¹⁰H.P. Hilger, ‘Zum Werk des Kölner Bildhauers Tilman van der Burch’, Zeitschrift des deutschen Vereins für Kunstwissenschaft 23 (1969) pp. 61-78, esp. fig. 12. The somewhat bulging, V-shaped and diagonally flowing folds of the angel’s robes – with a decorative fold of the cope’s hem gently falling to the ground in two places, at the front and back – is very much in line with statues exemplifying the early stylistic phase of Master Tillman and his workshop.¹¹¹¹For the development of Master Tilman’s style, see H.P. Hilger, ‘Zum Werk des Kölner Bildhauers Tilman van der Burch’, Zeitschrift des deutschen Vereins für Kunstwissenschaft 23 (1969) pp. 61-78; Kempkens 1997, pp. 34-39; Karrenbrock in R. Karrenbrock et al., Die Holzskulpturen des Mittelalters II: 1400 bis 1540. Teil 1: Köln, Westfalen, Norddeutschland, coll. cat. Cologne (Museum Schnütgen) 2001, chapter V (pp. 28-52).

Among these are three statues of the Virgin preserved in the collections of the Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum, the Schnütgen Museum and the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum.¹²¹²E.G. Grimme with the assistance of R. Puvogel, Europäische Bildwerke vom Mittelalter zum Barock, coll. cat. Aachen (Suermond-Ludwig-Museum) 1977, no. 33; R. Karrenbrock et al., Die Holzskulpturen des Mittelalters II: 1400 bis 1540. Teil 1: Köln, Westfalen, Norddeutschland, coll. cat. Cologne (Museum Schnütgen) 2001, no. 37 and H.P. Hilger, ‘Zum Werk des Kölner Bildhauers Tilman van der Burch’, Zeitschrift des deutschen Vereins für Kunstwissenschaft 23 (1969) pp. 61-78, esp. fig. 1. Around 1487, the year in which the monumental tomb was being made for Count Gerhard II von Sayn in the abbey church of Marienstatt,¹³¹³R. Karrenbrock et al., Die Holzskulpturen des Mittelalters II: 1400 bis 1540. Teil 1: Köln, Westfalen, Norddeutschland, coll. cat. Cologne (Museum Schnütgen) 2001, p. 31 (ill.). this earlier form of drapery folds makes way for a sharper, more complex variant that visually defies gravity to even greater effect.

With respect to the relatively voluminous treatment of the robes and the highly characteristic, narrow-carved eyes of the Amsterdam angel, Karrenbrock discerns the greatest similarity in two candle-bearing angels preserved in the Schnütgen Museum. In his estimation these figures, though carved in Cologne, betray the influence of sculptural production in Utrecht. Karrenbrock dates these angels circa 1470-80 and places them in the sphere of the Tilman workshop.¹⁴¹⁴R. Karrenbrock et al., Die Holzskulpturen des Mittelalters II: 1400 bis 1540. Teil 1: Köln, Westfalen, Norddeutschland, coll. cat. Cologne (Museum Schnütgen) 2001, nos. 34-35. He does not exclude the possibility that the Amsterdam angel is also a work produced in Master Tilman’s workshop during the same period.¹⁵¹⁵Written communciation Reinhard Karrenbrock, 1 October 2010.

Bieke van der Mark, 2024

J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, no. 111, with earlier literature; L.C.B.M. van Liebergen, Birgitta van Zweden, 1303-1373: 600 jaar kunst en cultuur van haar kloosterorde, exh. cat. Uden (Museum voor Religieuze Kunst) 1986, no. 90

B. van der Mark, 2024, 'attributed to workshop of Meester Tilman, Angel, Cologne, c. 1470 - c. 1480', in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200115868