Soldier, from Christ Carrying the Cross of the Soest Altarpiece

Carved in relief and originally polychromed. The figure stands on an integrally carved, rising ground with Tremolierung carved with a curved gouge. Incised lattice pattern on the left side. There are remnants of red paint on the armour and green paint on the hose.

Jaarverslag Nederlandse Rijksmusea 1973, p. 25; Jaarverslag Nederlandse Rijksmusea 1976, p. 17; K. Aben et al., ‘Conservering van de beelden van Soest’, Bulletin Centraal Laboratorium voor onderzoek van voorwerpen en kunst en wetenschap 1977, pp. 93-105

Badly worm-eaten and decayed. Among other things, the soldier’s arms and the figure of Christ are missing.

...; found in the Oude Kerk, Soest, with several other objects (BK-NM-12006-1 to -19), 1905;¹¹W. Vogelsang, ‘Vondst te Soest’, Bulletin van de Nederlandschen Oudheidkundigen Bond 4 (1905), pp. 187-96, pp. 190-91; J. Kalf, ‘Een belangrijke vondst’, Het huis, oud en nieuw. Maandelijks prentenboek gewijd aan huis, inrichting, bouw- en sierkunst 3 (1905), pp. 289-301. donated by the municipality of Soest to the museum, 1907

ObjectNumber: BK-NM-12006-15-B

Restoration work in the tower of the Oude Kerk in Soest in 1905 uncovered in a bricked-up area an important treasure trove of statues, albeit in a deplorable condition.²²These objects have been donated to the Rijksmuseum in 1907, see inv. nos. BK-NM-12006-1 to -19. It is assumed that the figures were hidden there either in 1566 at the outbreak of the Iconoclasm or in December 1580, when Calvinists in the Eemland region endeavoured to destroy every last remnant of religious art.³³K. Broekhuijsen-Kruijer, ‘Het Passieretabel uit Soest’, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 32 (1984), pp. 3-16, esp. p. 3.

Among the carvings were five small oak groups and a number of loose fragments that together belonged to a large Passion altarpiece. All that survived of the altar case were a few wooden consoles and lead ornaments. In all probability the altarpiece consisted of a case in the shape of an inverted T, with seven compartments for as many scenes from Christ’s Passion. The case must have been around four metres wide overall and between 155 and 180 centimetres high.⁴⁴Cf. the reconstruction by Van der Mark in M. Leeflang et al., Middeleeuwse beelden uit Utrecht: 1430-1530/Mittelalterliche Bildwerke aus Utrecht: 1430-1530, exh. cat. Utrecht (Museum Catharijneconvent)/Aachen (Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum) 2012-13, pp. 218-19 (ill.), based on K. Broekhuijsen-Kruijer, ‘Het Passieretabel uit Soest’, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 32 (1984), pp. 3-16, esp. p. 11 and B. Nederveen, ‘Het passieretabel van Soest. Kanttekeningen bij een reconstructie’, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 52 (2004), pp. 270-81, esp. p. 270. There was tracery (openwork Gothic ornament) above the altar groups. The placement of the scenes followed the chronology of the Passion story, with the Calvary, as usual, in the larger, central caisse or compartment. To the left of this scene was the Agony in the Garden (BK-NM-12006-15-C), the Flagellation (BK-NM-12006-13) and Christ Carrying the Cross (BK-NM-12006-15-B), with the Entombment (BK-NM-12006-12) and Christ’s Descent into Limbo (BK-NM-12006-14) on the right. The (unknown) seventh scene would have been a Descent from the Cross, Lamentation, Resurrection or Ascension.⁵⁵K. Broekhuijsen-Kruijer, ‘Het Passieretabel uit Soest’, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 32 (1984), pp. 3-16, esp. p. 11. In view of the chronology, the Resurrection and Ascension would have been in the seventh caisse of the altar case, the other two in the fifth. No elements of either of these have been identified to date.

The altarpiece must originally have been exceptionally fine. Remnants of gold leaf and brocade patterns indicate that the whole thing was elaborately decorated, and the carefully worked details, lively expressions and interaction between the figures attest to a very high standard of artistry. Countless style characteristics – such as the conspicuous lower eyelids of all the figures, the realism in their faces, the generally quite tight garments with few folds and the anecdotal nature of the scenes – are strong indications that the altar was created in the last quarter of the fifteenth century in the sculpture centre of Utrecht, not far from Soest.

Broekhuijsen-Kruijer gave the anonymous maker of the altar the provisional name of Master of the Soest Altarpiece. According to Leeuwenberg, two apostle figures that were also found in the church (BK-NM-12006-6 and BK-NM-12006-9) were ‘in all likelihood by the same hand’. He saw similarities in ‘the eyes and the face, the rather thickset forms, and the whole character’.⁶⁶J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, pp. 61-62. However, the inconsistent style of the folds of the garments and the different handling of hair and beards – slightly wavy in the altar fragments as opposed to curly in the apostle statues – do not support this attribution.

As Van Binnebeke pointed out, an Ecce Homo group in Rotterdam, which he dated to around 1500 and located in Utrecht, with reservations, is stylistically akin to the Soest Altarpiece.⁷⁷Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, inv. no. N24a, see Van Binnebeke in P. van Dael et al., Hout- en steensculptuur. Beeldhouwkunst 1200-1800 in de collectie van het Museum Boijmans-van Beuningen, coll. cat. Rotterdam 1994, no. 54. The same soft-top boots, pointed shoes and rosette clasps are found in both pieces, as are the wispy hair and the variety of realistic and grotesque facial expressions. The quality of the Soest Altarpiece is superior, however.

Bieke van der Mark, 2024

This fragment is part of the Calvary scene from the Soest Altarpiece.⁹⁹See Context for general information about this altarpiece and an analysis of the style. It was not known that a scene of Christ carrying the cross had been part of the altarpiece until Broekuijsen-Kruijer identified a broken fragment as the hands of the soldier dragging Christ on a rope on the road to Calvary (fig. a).¹⁰¹⁰K. Broekhuijsen-Kruijer, ‘Het Passieretabel uit Soest’, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 32 (1984), pp. 3-16, esp. p. 5. Nederveen subsequently convincingly linked this soldier looking up, which had previously been regarded as part of the Calvary, with Christ carrying the cross.¹¹¹¹B. Nederveen, ‘Het passieretabel van Soest. Kanttekeningen bij een reconstructie’, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 52 (2004), pp. 270-81, esp. p. 272. The soldier is turned to the left and seen in a three-quarter rear view. He has a mean, thuggish face. His armour has straps and buckles, and is decorated with red and gold patterns. A scarf is knotted around his head.

Nederveen identified the bare left foot in the foreground as that of the lost figure of Christ carrying the cross. A small piece of his long robe can still be seen in an old photograph (fig. b).¹²¹²B. Nederveen, ‘Het passieretabel van Soest. Kanttekeningen bij een reconstructie’, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 52 (2004), pp. 270-81, esp. p. 274, fig. 5. Given the position of his limbs, the soldier is shown on the point of stepping towards Christ to deal him a vicious blow. This is a quite frequent motif in fifteenth- and sixteenth century depictions of Christ carrying the cross, among them an Utrecht version in the Rijksmuseum (BK-18041). The pose of a figure seen from behind in the Antwerp altarpiece in the church of Västra Ingelstad in Denmark (before 1517), corresponds with the soldier in the Soest Altarpiece.¹³¹³B. Nederveen, ‘Het passieretabel van Soest. Kanttekeningen bij een reconstructie’, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 52 (2004), pp. 270-81, esp. p. 274, fig. 4.

Bieke van der Mark, 2024

J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, no. 23a, with earlier literature; Jaarverslag Nederlandse Rijksmusea 1976, p. 17; K. Broekhuijsen-Kruijer, ‘Het Passieretabel uit Soest’, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 32 (1984), pp. 3-16; P. van Dael et al., Hout- en steensculptuur. Beeldhouwkunst 1200-1800 in de collectie van het Museum Boijmans-van Beuningen, coll. cat. Rotterdam 1994, p. 85; R. Smolders et al., Het geheugen van de hand. De vergankelijkheid van sculptuur, exh. cat. Deurne (Museum de Wieger) 1995, p. 43; B. Nederveen, Soest, tussen Amersfoort en Utrecht. Een studie naar de herkomst van de laatgotische sculptuur uit de Hervormde Kerk te Soest, Amsterdam 1999 (unpub. thesis University of Amsterdam), pp. 13, 93-96; J.H.M. Hilhorst and J.G.M. Hilhorst, Soest, Hees en De Birkt. Van de achtste tot de zeventiende eeuw, Hilversum 2001, pp. 239-40, 260, 278; B. Nederveen, ‘Het passieretabel van Soest. Kanttekeningen bij een reconstructie’, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 52 (2004), pp. 270-81; Van der Mark in M. Leeflang et al., Middeleeuwse beelden uit Utrecht: 1430-1530/Mittelalterliche Bildwerke aus Utrecht: 1430-1530, exh. cat. Utrecht (Museum Catharijneconvent)/Aachen (Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum) 2012-13, no. 25c; J. Groenveld, ‘De Sint-Jansverering in een Sint-Vitusparochie voor 1580’, Tussen Vecht en Eem: Tijdschrift voor regionale geschiedenis 35 (2017), pp. 213-25, esp. p. 220

B. van der Mark, 2024, 'Meester van het retabel van Soest, Soldier, from Christ Carrying the Cross of the Soest Altarpiece, Utrecht, c. 1475 - c. 1500', in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.24283