Passion Altarpiece

In the 19th century, the present retable was assembled from numerous groups and fragments from a larger, late-medieval Passion altarpiece, to which new components were added. The present-day corbels of the groups in the arched concave frame, which are flat on the reverse, originally formed part of the landscape elements of the main scene. A piece of wood with a rounded reverse side has been glued to the back of these corbels for a better fit in the concave frame.

Verslagen omtrent ’s Rijks verzamelingen van geschiedenis en kunst 1948, p. 17

In the 19th century, the present retable was assembled from numerous groups and fragments of a larger, late-medieval Passion altarpiece. Missing are part of Longinus’s spear, the hands of the Pharisee on the left and the right hand of the Pharisee on the right. The original baldachins and/or corbels of the groups in the concave figural frame have been lost. Sections of the landscape from the main scene now function as corbels. The frame is modern, as are major sections of the landscape, the upper sections of the staff with the sponge and the spears, the corbels below the Confession and the Marriage of Joseph and Mary, and the right-hand section of the corbel below the Communion. The polychromy has been removed with a caustic. Remnants of the original chalk ground can still be discerned in the wood grain. Punch holes, once part of the pointillé of the now lost gilding, can be discerned along the edges of Christ’s cross and the reins of the horse on the right. In 1948, a 19th-century, dark-brown stain layer and the gilded background with brocade patterns (fig. a) were removed and the two thieves have switched places.

…; Cologne, late 19th century;¹¹J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, p. 136. …; Chapel of Neubourg Castle, Gulpen, date unknown;²²Note RMA. from Count R.L.H.J.M. de Marchant d’Ansembourg (1884-1952), Gulpen, fl. 5,000, to the museum, 1948, through the mediation of the dealer J.H.J. Mellaart, Mheer Castle (Limburg); on loan to the Museum Krona (formerly known as the Museum voor Religieuze Kunst), Uden, inv. no. 4638, since 2005

ObjectNumber: BK-16082

In the nineteenth century, this Passion Altarpiece was assembled from the remnants of a larger, late-gothic altarpiece made in Antwerp. In doing so, the original form and composition were drastically altered, with many of its individual components assigned a different place. De Borchgrave maintained that figures from another retable were also introduced, though tangible proof of this has never been ascertained.³³J. de Borchgrave d’Altena, ‘Notes pour servir à l’étude des retables anversois’, Bulletin des Musées Royaux d’art et d’histoire 29 (1957), p. 20. Although the group with the Swoon of the Virgin was clearly executed by a less-skilled workshop hand, the remaining figures of the main caisse with the Calvary are very much in line with the overall style, dimensions and the ground base, with its decorative Tremolierung (wiggle-work). Moreover, the Swoon of the Virgin is branded with an Antwerp hand in the same careless manner as the other three groups from the Calvary. Certain is that numerous pieces were newly carved and added to the altarpiece at this time, particularly in the landscape. The apparent aim was not only to replace missing elements, but also to improve the overall unity of the whole. Finally, a dark-brown stain layer was applied to the entire work. In 1948, this layer and the nineteenth-century gilded background with brocade patterns were again removed (fig. a).

Depicted in the central section is the Calvary. Erected on the upper grass mound are three crosses, with Christ in the middle flanked by the two thieves. Two mercenary soldiers standing at the foot of the large cross gaze up at the figure of Christ, one holding a staff with a sponge and the other a spear. Flanking these figures are men on horses. The figure on the far left, probably the blind Longinus, draws a spear from a sheath held by the young man standing before him. The horseman on the right is likely the Centurion. On the lower level, a scene of the Swoon of the Virgin appears in the middle: Mary swoons with her head bowed and her legs bent at the knees. She is supported at the arm by St John the Evangelist on the left and a holy woman on the right. Pharisees flank the trio left and right, with the figure on the right clasping a staff or handle of an unknown object. A male spectator far left leans heavily on a staff with both hands; the figure far right is an armoured soldier, who looks upward towards the centre with his right hand held above the eyes.

The two latter figures are proportioned notably smaller than the others, while the rock formation behind them terminates above their heads in a cityscape. Such points offer strong evidence that these elements were originally part of the now lost section of the background behind the three crosses. As was customary in retable Calvary scenes, these figures were depicted at a smaller scale to create the illusion of depth and distance. Other elements from this cityscape have been re-adapted as corbels supporting the miniature groups in the concave frame bordering the Calvary scene in the central caisse. Glued to the reverse of each of these groups is small piece of wood with a rounded back, ensuring a perfect fit in the concave moulding.

Filling the concave frame are the following scenes, starting bottom left: Baptism, Communion, the Flagellation, Confession, Extreme Unction, the Doubting Thomas, Marriage, the Crowning with Thorns, the Ordination of the Priesthood and Confirmation. These are the Seven Sacraments supplemented with three scenes from the life of Christ. As was customary, less attention was given to the small groups of the concave frame than the figures in the central section.

Four components of the large Calvary scene⁴⁴In this central scene, the Antwerp hand can be found on the base with Longinus, on the base with the horseman on the right, on the base of the Lamentation and on the base of the right-hand Pharisee. are branded with the Antwerp wood quality mark – the hand – as are all of the individual small-scale retable groups in the surrounding concave frame. Moreover, the iconographic programme and style fall perfectly in line with other noteworthy examples of Antwerp production, specifically from the period 1510-20. Comparable works include the Antwerp retables of Fisenne (fig. b),⁵⁵Arlon, Musée Gaspar, see KIK-IRPA, object no. 10053429; H. Nieuwdorp (ed.), Antwerp Altarpieces 15th-16th centuries, 2 vols., exh. cat. Antwerp (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal) 1993, vol. 1, no. 2. Elmpt (Germany),⁶⁶Elmpt, Katholische Kapelle Sankt Maria an der Heide, see KIK-IRPA, object no. 40000657; H. Nieuwdorp (ed.), Antwerp Altarpieces 15th-16th centuries, 2 vols., exh. cat. Antwerp (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal) 1993, vol. 1, no. 6. and Västerås (Sweden),⁷⁷Västerås Cathedral, see KIK-IRPA, object no. 40000667; H. Nieuwdorp (ed.), Antwerp Altarpieces 15th-16th centuries, 2 vols., exh. cat. Antwerp (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal) 1993, vol. 1, no. 8. all of which date from the second decade of the sixteenth century. The contorted poses of the crucified thieves in Amsterdam are virtually identical to those of their counterparts in the aforementioned retable of Fisenne. Characteristic aspects of these altarpieces include the inverted T-form of the shrine and the arched, concave figural frames surrounding each of the three – or only the two outermost – caisses containing the main scenes. The central caisse is consistently wider and higher than the flanking caisses. At the very bottom is a register with six compartments, in Passion retables typically filled with scenes from Christ’s Childhood: the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity, the Adoration, the Presentation in the Temple and the Circumcision.

In all probability, the retable groups in question come from a similar altarpiece composed of at least three large caisses, a conclusion based on several factors. First to be considered is the unusual combination of the Seven Sacraments and the three scenes from the life of Christ. In the interest of symmetry, only six of the seven sacraments would originally have adorned the concave figural frame surrounding the Calvary. The seventh sacrament, Extreme Unction, would then normally have appeared in the figural frame of the adjacent scene.⁸⁸See for example the retables of Coligny, Elmpt, Den Bosch and Waase in H. Nieuwdorp (ed.), Antwerp Altarpieces 15th-16th centuries, 2 vols., exh. cat. Antwerp (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal) 1993, vol. 1, fig. 4a and nos. 6, 7 and 9 respectively. In accordance with the chronological sequence of the Passion narrative, one typically encountered the Flagellation group and the Crowning with Thorns in the concave figural frame around the Crucifixion (left of the Calvary), with the Doubting Thomas located in the frame of the caisse to the right of the Calvary (commonly with the Lamentation). The second consideration is the shape of the modern concave frame flanked by inward curves on both sides. This clearly does not reflect the original late-gothic shrine, but was designed so as to accommodate the four strongly arched groups with two of these groups on either side. This further indicates that the original altarpiece comprised at least two (likely three) adjoining arched concave frames, comparable to the aforementioned retables of Fisenne and Elmpt.

Bieke van der Mark, 2024

J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, no. 146, with earlier litererature; R. de Boodt and U. Schäfer, Vlaamse retabels: Een internationale reis langs laatmiddeleeuws beeldsnijwerk, Leuven 2007, p. 288

B. van der Mark, 2024, 'anonymous, Passion Altarpiece, Antwerp, 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.24423