Portable Altar with Christ as the Man of Sorrows

Carved, sawn, assembled, polychromed and adorned with lead and glass decorations. Punched motifs (pointillé) have been applied to the gilding of the cross. The concave moulding and colonettes of the corpus are carved from a single piece of wood with a slightly hollowed out rear panel. The tracery has been added separately. The low wall with roll moulding behind the tomb is one piece. Christ and the tomb are one piece. The ointment jars (painted as albarelli) are attached with small pegs; the dice are affixed with glue. Both wings are carved from a single piece of wood, excepting the tracery, angels and the socles on which they stand. The compact size, robust exterior, sturdy hinges – conjoined with a metal spindle on both sides – and the ability to securely close the triptych all confirm its function as a portable altarpiece.Carved, sawn, assembled, polychromed and adorned with lead and glass decorations. Punched motifs (pointillé) have been applied to the gilding of the cross. The concave moulding and colonettes of the corpus are carved from a single piece of wood with a slightly hollowed out rear panel. The tracery has been added separately. The low wall with roll moulding behind the tomb is one piece. Christ and the tomb are one piece. The ointment jars (painted as albarelli) are attached with small pegs; the dice are affixed with glue. Both wings are carved from a single piece of wood, excepting the tracery, angels and the socles on which they stand. The compact size, robust exterior, sturdy hinges – conjoined with a metal spindle on both sides – and the ability to securely close the triptych all confirm its function as a portable altarpiece.

A single metal nail can still be discerned in the cross behind Christ; the other two are missing, as are a section of the reed with the sponge, the ladder, possibly other Instruments of the Passion, and a number of the angels’ attributes. The tracery of the corpus has possibly been replaced. A hanging segment of the tracery above the angel in the right wing is missing, as are two rosettes in the concave moulding. The polychromy is largely intact and original. The original press brocade very likely adorning the now bare surface of the background has faded. Originally, the area above this was likely decorated with a starry sky.

…; sale collection Michiel Onnes van Nijenrode (1878-1972, Nijenrode Castle, Breukelen), Amsterdam (Frederik Muller), 4-7 July 1933, no. 219, fl. 1,400, to ‘Van Heek’;¹¹Copy RMA. This ‘Van Heek’ is very unlikely the collector Jan Herman van Heek (1873-1957); my thanks to Frank Jansen, Stichting Huis Bergh, written correspondence, 13 October 2015. …; sale collection W. Kaiser, Fribourg, Bern (Jürg Stuker) 23 June-2 July 1958, no. 2680, Swiss frs 8,640 (fl. 7,488), to the museum; on loan to the Museum voor Religieuze Kunst, Uden, 2005-12

ObjectNumber: BK-1958-40

The austere, green monochrome painted exterior of this small portable altarpiece contrasts greatly with its richly decorated interior. Upon opening the wings, the figure of Christ as the Man of Sorrows appears in the middle. Standing in his tomb, he points to the wounds sustained from his crucifixion in a manner clearly derived from a print by Master E.S. (active c. 1450-c. 1467),²²M. Lehrs, Geschichte und kritischer Katalog des deutschen, niederländischen und französischen Kupferstichs im XV. Jahrhundert, vol. 2, Der Meister E.S., Vienna 1910, no. 55, see for instance Dresden, Kupferstich-Kabinett, inv. no. A 372. Christ wears the crown of thorns and is surrounded by various other attributes of his suffering (the Arma Christi): draped over the edge of his open tomb is the linen cloth, with the three ointment jars on the left and the three dice on the right. Behind him are the spear, a section of the reed with the sponge, and the cross. No trace of the ladder remains; two of the three nails in the cross are also missing. Each altarpiece wing frames an angel standing on a triangular pedestal that terminates in a sharp, visually disproportionate point in the centre. The attributes in the angels’ hands are incomplete and therefore indeterminate, but these would most likely have been additional Arma Christi or candlesticks. The tracery (metselrie) consists of trefoils and quatrefoils, mouchettes and arches, all resting on colonettes. Silver imitation pearls and lead rosettes have been applied to the concave moulding, with the larger ornaments set with imitation gems made of coloured glass.

This small retable belongs to a group of at least eleven diptychs and triptychs bearing numerous similarities, as observed by Leeuwenberg and Lemmens in their extensive discussions of these works.³³For this group, see J. Leeuwenberg, ‘Zeven Zuidnederlandse Reisaltaartjes’, Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Oudheidkunde en Kunstgeschiedenis 27 (1958), 95-107; G. Lemmens, ‘Een kerst-altaartje uit Brussel/Mechelen, ca 1500-1510’, Antiek 7 (1982) 5, pp. 241-51, pp. 241-51; Cologne 1982, nos. 26-27; S. Guillot de Suduiraut and J. Lévy, ‘Le retable de la Trinité offert à soeur Perrette Dobray en 1542, un petit retable de dévotion portatif des anciens Pays-Bas’, in T. Kunz (ed.), Nicht die Bibliothek, sondern das Auge: Beiträge zu Ehren von Hartmut Krohm, Petersberg 2008, pp. 178-86; N. Gliesmann, Geschnitzte kleinformatige Retabel aus Antwerpener, Brüsseler und Mechelener Produktion des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts: Herstellung, Form, Funktion, Petersberg 2011, pp. 281-99. Leeuwenberg (J. Leeuwenberg, ‘Zeven Zuidnederlandse Reisaltaartjes’, Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Oudheidkunde en Kunstgeschiedenis 27 (1958), 95-107, no. 7) previously observed a connection with a house altar in the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille, which has a framing similar to the group discussed here. Measuring 65 cm high, this altarpiece is more than twice its height. Gliesmann (N. Gliesmann, Geschnitzte kleinformatige Retabel aus Antwerpener, Brüsseler und Mechelener Produktion des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts: Herstellung, Form, Funktion, Petersberg 2011, no. 78) views this latter work as a transitional piece between portable altarpieces and the more common Brabantine small-scale retables. As Nostitz argued (supported in his findings by Lemmens, rejected by Gliesmann), its figural style is similar to works by the Cologne master Tilman van der Burch, see C.E. von Nostitz, Late Gothic Sculpture of Cologne, 1978 (diss., New York University), pp. 239-30, no. 130. The compact size, the undecorated, robust exterior, the sturdy hinges – conjoined with a metal spindle on both sides – and the ability to securely close these objects are details that confirm their function as portable altarpieces. Barring one exception in Écouen (see below), all are dated on stylistic grounds to the period 1490-1510, with height dimensions varying between 23 and 24 centimetres. One noteworthy feature found virtually in every case is the sharply pointed triangular form of the angels’ socles in the altarpiece wings. Additionally, a number of the altarpieces repeat exactly the same composition. For instance, a second version of the present altarpiece with Christ as Man of the Sorrows is preserved at the Museum für Angewandte Kunst in Cologne,⁴⁴Cologne, Museum für Angewandte Kunst, inv. no. A 1188, see N. Gliesmann, Geschnitzte kleinformatige Retabel aus Antwerpener, Brüsseler und Mechelener Produktion des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts: Herstellung, Form, Funktion, Petersberg 2011, no. 69. Here the figure of Christ is larger, filling almost the entire corpus and perhaps indicating a later date of origin (see S. Guillot de Suduiraut and J. Lévy, ‘Le retable de la Trinité offert à soeur Perrette Dobray en 1542, un petit retable de dévotion portatif des anciens Pays-Bas’, in T. Kunz (ed.), Nicht die Bibliothek, sondern das Auge: Beiträge zu Ehren von Hartmut Krohm, Petersberg 2008, pp. 178-86, esp. p. 184). The folds of Christ’s loincloth and those of the angels’ robes appear somewhat more schematic and less sharply finished, though this may also stem from the thickness of the overpainting. Nevertheless, the form of the tracery – on the altarpiece in Cologne executed in gilt metal (tin?) and comprising leaves and flowers – remains the most noticeable difference between these two works. The style of the foliate tracery forms yet a second indication that the version in Cologne was made approximately 5 to 15 years later. In addition to the tracery, other elements made of metal (lead) include the colonettes, the pierced ‘middle panel’, the Instruments of the Passion and the angels’ wings: on the Amsterdam altarpiece, all elements carved from wood. together with an unpublished, third version held in a Dutch private collection.⁵⁵Photos in Object File, RMA. Here the angels are virtually identical to those of the present altarpiece. Moreover, the Christ figure is a fraction larger and physically more muscled. In this case, the side panel of the tomb in which he stands is flat and furnished with punched motifs. The press brocade adorning the background of the central scene and wings is still present on this piece. The altarpiece rests on a socle, presumably non-original but dating from the 16th century. Measurements: h. 23.5 (without socle) x w. 14.3 (closed; w. 29.4 opened) x d. 6.8 cm (closed). Socle: h. 5.5 x w. 17 x d. 6.4 cm. Van Vlierden also previously noted this altarpiece in M. van Vlierden and J. Giltaij, Uit het goede hout gesneden: Middeleeuwse beelden uit de collectie Schoufour-Martin in Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, coll. cat. Rotterdam 2008, p. 168. The core group of portable altarpieces of this type furthermore includes: two triptychs with the Adoration of the Magi, respectively in the Victoria and Albert Museum⁶⁶London, Victoria and Albert Museum, inv. no. 32640185, see P. Williamson, Netherlandish Sculpture 1450-1550, coll. cat. London (Victoria and Albert Museum) 2002, no. 29; N. Gliesmann, Geschnitzte kleinformatige Retabel aus Antwerpener, Brüsseler und Mechelener Produktion des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts: Herstellung, Form, Funktion, Petersberg 2011, no. 67. and the Iglesia San Pedro, Arajona (Navarra),⁷⁷N. Gliesmann, Geschnitzte kleinformatige Retabel aus Antwerpener, Brüsseler und Mechelener Produktion des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts: Herstellung, Form, Funktion, Petersberg 2011, no. 68. with a possible third triptych held in a private collection in Barcelona in 1952;⁸⁸N. Gliesmann, Geschnitzte kleinformatige Retabel aus Antwerpener, Brüsseler und Mechelener Produktion des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts: Herstellung, Form, Funktion, Petersberg 2011, no. 80. This is possibly the altarpiece today preserved in Navarra. a triptych with the Coronation of the Virgin (recently rediscovered in the collection of the Caramoor Center for Music and Arts, Katonah NY);⁹⁹E. Rice Mattison, ‘A Miniature Netherlandish Altarpiece Rediscovered’, Burlington Magazine 162 (2020), pp. 592-94; N. Gliesmann, Geschnitzte kleinformatige Retabel aus Antwerpener, Brüsseler und Mechelener Produktion des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts: Herstellung, Form, Funktion, Petersberg 2011, no. 75. two diptychs with the Annunciation, preserved respectively at the Sint-Annahofje, Leiden,¹⁰¹⁰N. Gliesmann, Geschnitzte kleinformatige Retabel aus Antwerpener, Brüsseler und Mechelener Produktion des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts: Herstellung, Form, Funktion, Petersberg 2011, no. 73. and a Belgian private collection;¹¹¹¹N. Gliesmann, Geschnitzte kleinformatige Retabel aus Antwerpener, Brüsseler und Mechelener Produktion des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts: Herstellung, Form, Funktion, Petersberg 2011, no. 72. a triptych with St Christopher flanked by Sts Sebastian and Roch (whereabouts unknown);¹²¹²N. Gliesmann, Geschnitzte kleinformatige Retabel aus Antwerpener, Brüsseler und Mechelener Produktion des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts: Herstellung, Form, Funktion, Petersberg 2011, no. 76. a triptych with the Nativity in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Arras,¹³¹³Arras, Musée des Beaux-Arts (on loan from Musée Cluny, Musée national du Moyen Âge, Paris), inv. no. D.939.1.38, see N. Gliesmann, Geschnitzte kleinformatige Retabel aus Antwerpener, Brüsseler und Mechelener Produktion des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts: Herstellung, Form, Funktion, Petersberg 2011, no. 79 (erroneously cited a second time as no. 77). and a triptych with the Lamentation in the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam. ¹⁴¹⁴Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, inv. no. BEK 1773 (OK), see M. van Vlierden, Gehouwen, gesneden, geschonken: Middeleeuwse beelden uit de collectie Schoufour-Martin, coll. cat. Rotterdam (Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen) 2017, no. 65; N. Gliesmann, Geschnitzte kleinformatige Retabel aus Antwerpener, Brüsseler und Mechelener Produktion des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts: Herstellung, Form, Funktion, Petersberg 2011, no. 71.

A small portable altarpiece of the same type featuring the Holy Trinity in Musée national de la Renaissance (Écouen) is stylistically more evolved.¹⁵¹⁵Écouen, Musée national de la Renaissance, inv. no. E. Cl. 180, see S. Guillot de Suduiraut and J. Lévy, ‘Le retable de la Trinité offert à soeur Perrette Dobray en 1542, un petit retable de dévotion portatif des anciens Pays-Bas’, in T. Kunz (ed.), Nicht die Bibliothek, sondern das Auge: Beiträge zu Ehren von Hartmut Krohm, Petersberg 2008, pp. 178-86; N. Gliesmann, Geschnitzte kleinformatige Retabel aus Antwerpener, Brüsseler und Mechelener Produktion des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts: Herstellung, Form, Funktion, Petersberg 2011, no. 74. Measuring 30 centimetres in height, its size is also somewhat larger than the core group. Gliesmann dated the origin of this work ten years later than the others, circa 1510-20. As Guillot de Suduiraut has since convincingly argued, however, the mannerist traits of the various figures, e.g. the puffed-up tunics and other elements such as the angels’ essentially bare legs and the renaissance colonettes on the throne, are more indicative of a dating somewhat later, circa 1525-40.¹⁶¹⁶S. Guillot de Suduiraut and J. Lévy, ‘Le retable de la Trinité offert à soeur Perrette Dobray en 1542, un petit retable de dévotion portatif des anciens Pays-Bas’, in T. Kunz (ed.), Nicht die Bibliothek, sondern das Auge: Beiträge zu Ehren von Hartmut Krohm, Petersberg 2008, pp. 178-86, esp. p. 184. The inscription on the reverse, which commemorates the triptych’s presentation by a certain Sister Perrette Dobray to her brothers and sister, strongly suggests this altarpiece was indeed made around 1540-42. The apparent conclusion is that the production of this type of portable altarpiece, which shows a considerable agreement in style and technique as a group, continued from around 1490 to the 1540s. The more enduring serial production of this kind of portable altarpiece is indicative of the growing demand for objects of private devotion in the Netherlands during the first half of the sixteenth century. Attempts to date the undocumented pieces must therefore be approached with some reserve, as they are possibly derived from earlier examples. Accordingly, a broader dating of the present altarpiece circa 1500-25 is deemed justified.

The technical and stylistic cohesion of these portable altarpieces is so substantial that one may conclude their production arose from a single workshop or a working association of specialized workshops. In the absence of any archival data and quality marks, however, it is impossible to assess the actual state of affairs with certainty. Leeuwenberg believed these works could be ascribed to a single (Brussels) workshop or master.¹⁷¹⁷J. Leeuwenberg, ‘Zeven Zuidnederlandse Reisaltaartjes’, Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Oudheidkunde en Kunstgeschiedenis 27 (1958), 95-107, esp. p. 107; J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, p. 125. Conceivably, however, these small portable altarpieces – as has been demonstrated with several larger documented retables – were the product of a collaboration between associated woodcarvers, polychromers and joiners from two or more specialized studios.¹⁸¹⁸For the division of labour in the creation of retables, see L.F. Jacobs, Early Netherlandish Carved Altarpieces 1380-1550: Medieval Mass Marketing, Cambridge 1998, pp. 210-19. Most of the stylistic characteristics and the applied decorating techniques can be directly linked to Brussels. As confirmed by comparisons with a number of retables bearing the Brussels mark, the style of the scenes is decidedly characteristic of that city.¹⁹¹⁹Most recently supported by S. Guillot de Suduiraut and J. Lévy, ‘Le retable de la Trinité offert à soeur Perrette Dobray en 1542, un petit retable de dévotion portatif des anciens Pays-Bas’, in T. Kunz (ed.), Nicht die Bibliothek, sondern das Auge: Beiträge zu Ehren von Hartmut Krohm, Petersberg 2008, pp. 178-86, esp. pp. 183-84. Gliesmann compares the tormented facial type and the tawny body of the present Man of Sorrows with that of the Christ in the central scene of a Brussels retable from c. 1490-1500 in the Museum Grand Curtius (Liège), see N. Gliesmann, Geschnitzte kleinformatige Retabel aus Antwerpener, Brüsseler und Mechelener Produktion des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts: Herstellung, Form, Funktion, Petersberg 2011, no. 22 and p. 175. Only Williamson observes a style reminiscent of works produced in Mechelen, see P. Williamson, Netherlandish Sculpture 1450-1550, coll. cat. London (Victoria and Albert Museum) 2002, p. 109. Lemmens (G. Lemmens, ‘Een kerst-altaartje uit Brussel/Mechelen, ca 1500-1510’, Antiek 7 (1982) 5, pp. 241-51, esp. p. 250) questions this: although the style and the anecdotal nature of the scenes are in his view typical of Brussels, he nevertheless associates the ‘sometimes shocking absence of feeling for composition and monumentality’ more with Mechelen. Such a discrepancy, however, can just as readily be explained by the much smaller scale – in comparison with the standard Brussels retables – on which the makers of portable altars were required to work. More pointedly, these works embody the idiom of the immeasurably influential workshop of the Borman family. Under the direction of Jan Borman II (c. 1460-c. 1520), this shop evolved to become one of the most important woodcarving studios in Brussels. In the present work, Christ’s emaciated corporeal type, highly detailed at the level of the navel, recalls that of St Adrian in a relief from an altarpiece dedicated to the saint in the Sint-Adrianuskerk in Elsene (Brussels), dated circa 1490-95 and attributed to Jan II or his father Jan I (c. 1440-c. 1502/3).²⁰²⁰C. Périer D’Íeteren and N. Gesché-Koning, Guide Bruxellois des retables des Pays-Bas méridionaux (XVe-XVIe siècles), Brussels 2000, pp. 106-13; B. D’Hainaut-Zveny (ed.), Miroirs du sacré: Les retables sculptés à Bruxelles XVe-XVIe siècles, Brussels 2005, no. A2; M. Debaene (ed.), Borman: A Family of Northern Renaissance Sculptors, exh. cat. Leuven (Museum M) 2019, no. 57. In addition, the angels of these portable altars have the same round, charming faces with almond-shaped eyes and framed by the outspread hair – consisting of three layered rows of curls emerging from a hairband and crowned by a forelock with two upright curls – as the angels on the Saluzzo Altarpiece (today preserved in Brussels), dated circa 1500-10 and attributed to one of the sons, either Jan III (c. 1480-?) or Pasquier (c. 1470-c. 1537?).²¹²¹Brussels, Museum van de Stad Brussel (Broodhuis), inv. no. 1.5.1.-1.5.2, see C. Périer D’Íeteren and N. Gesché-Koning, Guide Bruxellois des retables des Pays-Bas méridionaux (XVe-XVIe siècles), Brussels 2000, pp. 12-19. S. Guillot de Suduiraut, Sculptures brabançonnes du musée du Louvre: Bruxelles, Malines, Anvers XVe-XVIe siècles, Paris 2001, pp. 72-73; B. D’Hainaut-Zveny (ed.), Miroirs du sacré: Les retables sculptés à Bruxelles XVe-XVIe siècles, Brussels 2005, no. A7. R. de Boodt and U. Schäfer, Vlaamse retabels. Een internationale reis langs laatmiddeleeuws beeldsnijwerk, Leuven 2007, p. 189. Also comparable is the Pair of Hovering Angels in the Rijksmuseum (BK-1960-31-A and -B). Furthermore, the press brocade on the background of virtually every portable altar (though on the present piece largely faded) is a costly decorative technique, as far as can be ascertained, applied solely in Brussels. Likewise traceable to this city is the pattern of floral pointillé motifs punched in the fresh poliment gilding on the portable altarpiece with the Coronation of the Virgin.²²²²N. Gliesmann, Geschnitzte kleinformatige Retabel aus Antwerpener, Brüsseler und Mechelener Produktion des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts: Herstellung, Form, Funktion, Petersberg 2011, p. 293.

As Lemmens rightly observed, however, the ‘dominant role of the quasi-precious ornamentation’ in the form of (originally gilded) small lead ornaments with imitation gems on the frame is atypical of Brussels production and more in line with that of Mechelen.²³²³G. Lemmens, ‘Een kerst-altaartje uit Brussel/Mechelen, ca 1500-1510’, Antiek 7 (1982) 5, pp. 241-51, p. 250. In the late Middle Ages, a strong tradition in luxury artistic handwork, often produced in a somewhat factory-like process, blossomed in this city. Well known are the partly gilded alabaster tablets bearing mythological or biblical scenes (e.g. BK-NM-3499) and the small, polychromed wooden statuettes of saints (e.g. BK-NM-2493) referred to as poupées de Malines (Mechelen dolls), an appellation derived from their doll-like faces. These figurines functioned as independent objects but were also displayed in special house retables. These were sometimes so-called hortus conclusi (enclosed gardens), where they were placed amidst miniature relics and an abundance of foliage and flowers made of silk or papier-mâché.²⁴²⁴Cf. W. Godenne, Préliminaires à l’inventaire général des statuettes d’origine malinoise présumées des XVe et XVIe siècles, Mechelen 1958, plates XXIX to LVII. Because the lead ornaments with imitation gems on the frames of the portable altarpieces also commonly appear on the socles of these ‘dolls’ and miniature crucifixes produced in Mechelen,²⁵²⁵See W. Godenne, Préliminaires à l’inventaire général des statuettes d’origine malinoise présumées des XVe et XVIe siècles, Mechelen 1969, plates II/150, II/159, 1972, II/196, 1976, II/263. various authors have recently proffered that the production of these altars may have occurred in collaborating workshops in Brussels and Mechelen.²⁶²⁶P. Williamson, Netherlandish Sculpture 1450-1550, coll. cat. London (Victoria and Albert Museum) 2002, p. 109; M. van Vlierden et al., Hout- en steensculptuur van Museum Catharijneconvent, ca. 1200-1600, coll. cat. Utrecht 2004, p. 167; N. Gliesmann, Geschnitzte kleinformatige Retabel aus Antwerpener, Brüsseler und Mechelener Produktion des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts: Herstellung, Form, Funktion, Petersberg 2011, p. 281. That artisans from these cities collaborated on occasion is evident from the fact that a large number of the more elaborate Mechelen dolls are furnished with a Brussels quality mark for the polychromy.²⁷²⁷A. Jansen, ‘Losse nota’s over de merktekens op de Mechelse beeldjes (15e-16e eeuwen)’, in W. Godenne, Préliminaires à l’inventaire général des statuettes d’origine malinoise présumées des XVe et XVIe siècles, Mechelen 1963, pp. 148-56, esp. p. 255; M. Buyle and C. Vanthillo, Vlaamse en Brabantse retabels in Belgische monumenten, Brussels 2000, p. 94. Vice versa, documented examples also exist of Brussels woodcarvers subcontracting work to polychromers from Mechelen.²⁸²⁸K.W. Woods, Imported Images: Netherlandish Late Gothic Sculpture in England c. 1400-c. 1550, Donington 2007, p. 47. On the basis of their distinctive stylistic characteristics, the portable altarpieces carved and polychromed in Brussels could indeed hypothetically have received their ornamentation (perhaps also their caisses and/or frames) in Mechelen. But the possibility they were made entirely in Brussels, as a by-product of the city’s regular retable production, may not be excluded. The Brussels polychromy mark found on a number of Mechelen dolls with lead ornamentation on their socles in fact strongly suggests that such ornamentation – logically applied only after the polychromy was added – was also used in Brussels.²⁹²⁹For two figures of the blessing Christ Child marked BRVESEL on socles with lead rosettes, see sale collection Albert Figdor (Vienna), Berlin (Paul Cassirer), 29-30 September 1930, vol. 4, no. 186 and G. Lemmens, ‘Een kerst-altaartje uit Brussel/Mechelen, ca 1500-1510’, Antiek 7 (1982) 5, pp. 241-51, fig. 11.

Bieke van der Mark, 2024

J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, no. 129, with earlier literature; G. Lemmens, ‘Een kerst-altaartje uit Brussel/Mechelen, ca. 1500-1510’, Antiek 7 (1982) 5, pp. 241-51, esp. p. 242, note 1; Cologne 1982, no. 27; M. Buyle and C. Vanthillo, Vlaamse en Brabantse retabels in Belgische monumenten, Brussels 2000, p. 79; P. Williamson, Netherlandish Sculpture 1450-1550, coll. cat. London (Victoria and Albert Museum) 2002, p. 108; N. Gliesmann, Geschnitzte kleinformatige Retabel aus Antwerpener, Brüsseler und Mechelener Produktion des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts: Herstellung, Form, Funktion, Petersberg 2011, pp. 175, 283, 285 and no. 70; ; E. Rice Mattison, ‘A Miniature Netherlandish Altarpiece Rediscovered’, Burlington Magazine 162 (2020), pp. 592-94, esp. p. 592 and fig. 2

B. van der Mark, 2024, 'anonymous, Portable Altar with Christ as the Man of Sorrows, Brussels, c. 1500 - c. 1525', in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.24405