Carved. The reverse has been hollowed out. No traces of polychromy can be discerned with the naked eye.

The Christ Child is missing from Mary’s lap, as are the left hands of both Mary and St Anne and the fingers on Mary’s right hand.

? Commissioned by the Bridgettine abbey Mariënwater, Koudewater (near Rosmalen), c. 1500-15;¹¹For the history of these abbeys and the transitional period and transfer of the art patrimony, see. L.C.B.M. van Liebergen, Beelden in de abdij. Middeleeuwse kunst uit het noordelijk deel van het hertogdom Brabant, exh. cat. Uden (Museum voor Religieuze Kunst) 1999, pp. 39-57, 62-64. ? transferred to the Bridgettine abbey Maria Refugie, Uden, 1713-24;²²Ibid. from which, to the Nederlandsch Museum voor Geschiedenis en Kunst, The Hague, with numerous other sculptures (BK-NM-1195 to -1243), fl. 2,000 for all, 1875; transferred to the museum, 1885; on loan to the Museum Krona (formerly known as the Museum voor Religieuze Kunst), Uden, inv. no. 4635, since 1999

Object number: BK-NM-1201

Together with the Master of Koudewater (active c. 1470-c. 1480) and the Master of Leende (active c. 1480-c. 1500), the Master of Soeterbeeck (active c. 1470-c. 1480) was one of the most important woodcarvers working in the northern part of the Duchy of Brabant during the second half of the fifteenth century.⁷⁷For sculpture produced in this region, see L.C.B.M. van Liebergen, Beelden in de abdij: Middeleeuwse kunst uit het noordelijk deel van het hertogdom Brabant, exh. cat. Uden (Museum voor Religieuze Kunst) 1999. As his name of convenience implies, the three main works of this anonymous master originate from the priory of Nieuw Soeterbeeck in Deursen (near Ravenstein), which closed its doors in 1997.⁸⁸G. Lemmens and G. de Werd, Beelden uit Brabant: Laatgotische kunst uit het oude hertogdom 1400-1520, exh. cat. Den Bosch (Noordbrabants Museum) 1971, p. 22 All three statues, depicting the saints Elizabeth of Hungary, Apollonia and Augustine, are today preserved in the Museum Krona in Uden.⁹⁹L.C.B.M. van Liebergen, Beelden in de abdij: Middeleeuwse kunst uit het noordelijk deel van het hertogdom Brabant, exh. cat. Uden (Museum voor Religieuze Kunst) 1999, nos. 32-34. In addition to this monastic core group, six other works are attributed to the Master of Soeterbeeck and his workshop: a standing Female Saint in the Museum Mayer van den Bergh in Antwerp, a Virgin and Child in the Sint-Martinuskerk in Arnhem, a St Bridget of Sweden in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, a St Anthony Abbot at the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, a St Barbara in the Museum Krona, and a Female Saint, known only from a photo.¹⁰¹⁰L.C.B.M. van Liebergen, Beelden in de abdij: Middeleeuwse kunst uit het noordelijk deel van het hertogdom Brabant, exh. cat. Uden (Museum voor Religieuze Kunst) 1999, figs. 22-25, 81 and 82. With the exception of the oak St Barbara in Uden, all of the aforementioned works are carved in walnut. The earliest known origin suggests that the workshop of the Master of Soeterbeeck was located in the north-eastern part of the Duchy of Brabant, probably in Grave.¹¹¹¹L.C.B.M. van Liebergen, Beelden in de abdij: Middeleeuwse kunst uit het noordelijk deel van het hertogdom Brabant, exh. cat. Uden (Museum voor Religieuze Kunst) 1999, pp. 66-67. These sculptures of saints bear characteristics similar to the pillar-like, highly refined although somewhat repetitive figures of his contemporary, the Master of Koudewater (cf. BK-NM-1195). The Master of Soeterbeeck’s works nevertheless distinguish themselves in the somewhat broader composition and the playful drapery fold schemes.

In 1996, Abbink also linked the present oak-carved Virgin and Child with St Anne (missing the child on Mary’s lap) to the Master of Soeterbeeck,¹²¹²H.A. Tummers (ed.), Bekende en minder bekende laatmiddeleeuwse houten beelden, Nijmegen 1996, p. 63. whereas Leeuwenberg previously catalogued the sculpture as a Northern Netherlandish work of circa 1510, possibly from the bishopric of Utrecht or Guelders.¹³¹³J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, no. 90. In his description, Abbink pointed out the notable agreement with the aforementioned St Bridget in New York, a work that since 1980 has been attributed to the Master of Soeterbeeck and which also originates from the convent of Maria Refugie in Uden (fig. a).¹⁴¹⁴New York, The Metropolitan Musuem of Art, inv. no. 16.32.197, see G. Lemmens, ‘De heilige Elisabeth van Teuringen, Meester van Soeterbeeck, ca. 1470-1480’, Jaarverslag Vereniging Rembrandt 1980, pp. 69-70; L.C.B.M. van Liebergen, Beelden in de abdij: Middeleeuwse kunst uit het noordelijk deel van het hertogdom Brabant, exh. cat. Uden (Museum voor Religieuze Kunst) 1999, pp. 66, 128, fig. 24. The similarities between this sculpture and the right figure of the Amsterdam group (St Anne) are indeed very striking. Both possess the same oval-shaped head, with bulging eyes set deep, somewhat askew in their sockets. The figures’ hands, including the phalanxes and nails, are almost identical in form, just as the books they hold before them, with a single page slightly raised. Other clear parallels are the manner in which their wimples turn back at the sides and the way in which the elegant folds of their veils contrast with the tenuous folds of their skirts.

While all of the sculptures in the broader ‘Soeterbeeck group’ bear a general resemblance, striking differences can nevertheless be observed when comparing those in New York and Amsterdam to the rest. The faces of Bridget and those of Mary and St Anne in the present group, for example, are less pointed in form and possess a more confrontational, self-confident allure than encountered in the other works. Additionally, the folds of the garments are much more dynamic: the hem of Mary’s cloak even defies the effect of gravity at the level of her knees, by turning upwards. Bridget’s cloak, draped loosely over her chair, displays a comparable ‘turned-up fold’ at the level of her left knee. Abbink describes the sculpture of Bridget as a work contemporaneous with the three core works of the Master of Soeterbeeck (circa 1470-80). On the basis of these stylistic characteristics, however, a dating of around 1500-15 is more plausible for this sculpture, just as for the present Virgin and Child with St Anne. The possibility that these works might have been carved by the Master of Soeterbeeck – or produced under his direction – is by no means out of the question. Given the substantially later date of origin, however, a talented successor or follower seems the more logical conclusion.

That the two sculptures from Amsterdam and New York both come from the same workshop, despite their differing wood type, appears to be confirmed not only by the stylistic agreement but also by their early shared provenance. Until 1875, both were in the possession of the convent of Maria Refugie in Uden.¹⁵¹⁵Victor de Stuers describes the sculpture of St Bridget in his appraisal report of the convent’s possessions compiled in that year, see L.C.B.M. van Liebergen, Beelden in de abdij: Middeleeuwse kunst uit het noordelijk deel van het hertogdom Brabant, exh. cat. Uden (Museum voor Religieuze Kunst) 1999, p. 67. The two sculptures were probably transferred there in 1713 by the Bridgettine nuns who abandoned their former abbey, Mariënwater in Koudewater near Rosmalen (established in the fifteenth century), due to forfeiture. By virtue of its subject, the St Bridget evidently supports this theory, as the abbey at Koudewater was the sole Bridgettine abbey in the northern part of the Duchy of Brabant. From the city of Grave, the presumed location of the Master of Soeterbeeck’s workshop, situated no more than thirty kilometres to the west of Mariënwater, the sculptures could easily have been transported to the abbey.

A third sculpture can also be attributed to the same woodcarver. It concerns a richly attired Female Saint or Sybil – again in a seated position, with an opened book on her lap – in the Museum Mayer van den Bergh in Antwerp.¹⁶¹⁶Antwerp, Museum Mayer van den Bergh, inv. no. MMB.0277. The height (108 cm) and type of wood (oak) are comparable to the group in Amsterdam. The sibyl or saint shows highly similar features to the statues in Amsterdam and New York not only in her face, but also in the treatment of the pleads of her garments as well as her fingers and fingernails. Lastly, a sculpture in the Museum Kurhaus in Cleves may also perhaps be attributed to the workshop of the very same follower of the Master of Soeterbeeck (fig. b).¹⁷¹⁷See G. de Werd, Heilige aus Holz im Museum Kurhaus Kleve (Schriftenreihe Museum Kurhaus Kleve: Ewald Mataré-Sammlung, 7), exh. cat. Cleves (Museum Kurhaus Kleve) 1998, no. 9 (as ‘Lower Rhenish, c. 1500-10’). The identification of this oak figure as St Mary Magdalene is in fact the consequence of an earlier undocumented restoration, at which time hands holding an ointment jar were added. In all likelihood, however, this group originally was intended as a Virgin and Child.¹⁸¹⁸G. de Werd, Heilige aus Holz im Museum Kurhaus Kleve (Schriftenreihe Museum Kurhaus Kleve: Ewald Mataré-Sammlung, 7), exh. cat. Cleves (Museum Kurhaus Kleve) 1998, p. 7. While the flatter treatment of the flowing folds of the Magdalene’s robe at first appears to differ from that of the other three sculptures, the upper part of the sculpture and especially the face display so many striking similarities to the figure of the Virgin in the Amsterdam sculpture, an origin from the same workshop nevertheless appears highly plausible.

Bieke van der Mark, 2024

J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, no. 90, 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. 83; Abbink in H.A. Tummers (ed.), Bekende en minder bekende laatmiddeleeuwse houten beelden, Nijmegen 1996, pp. 63-67

B. van der Mark, 2024, 'follower of Meester van Soeterbeeck, The Virgin and Child with St Anne, Northern Brabant, c. 1500 - c. 1515', in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200375866