Master of Koudewater (follower of),

Female Saint

Northern Brabant, c. 1470 - c. 1480

Technical notes

Carved and polychromed. The reverse is nearly flat.

Scientific examination and reports

  • conservation report: K. Aben, Centraal Laboratorium Amsterdam, 1975

Literature scientific examination and reports

Jaarverslag Nederlandse Rijksmusea 1977, p. 20

Condition

The front of the base is missing, as are both hands. The polychromy is damaged.

Conservation

  • K. Aben, 1977: cleaned; the crack in the head has been filled; most of the worm holes have been filled; the face has been retouched with watercolour.

Provenance

? Commissioned by the Bridgettine abbey Mariënwater, Koudewater, near Rosmalen, c. 1470-80;1For the history of this abbey 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, 97. transferred to the Bridgettine convent Maria Refugie, Uden, 1713-24;2Ibid. from where, with numerous other sculptures (BK-NM-1195 to -1243), fl. 2,000 for all, to the Nederlandsch Museum voor Geschiedenis en Kunst, The Hague, 1875; transferred to the museum, 1885; on loan to the Museum Krona (formerly known as the Museum voor Religieuze Kunst), Uden, inv. no. 0026, since 1973

ObjectNumber: BK-NM-1210

The artist

Biography

Master of Koudewater (active in northern Brabant c. 1460-80)

The name of convenience ‘Master of Koudewater’ was introduced by Leeuwenberg in 1958 to define the production of a sculptor active in the period 1460-80, whose oeuvre chiefly comprises carved wooden statues of saints formerly originating from two Bridgettine abbeys. The first one, Mariënwater, was located in the northern Brabantine village of Koudewater. In 1460, this ‘mother abbey’ founded a second abbey in the vicinity of Cleves, called Marienbaum. When evicted from their abbey in 1713, the Bridgettine nuns at Mariënwater moved to a convent in the vicinity of Uden, together with all of their possessions. In 1802, when the abbey at Marienbaum was dissolved, a portion of its inventory was likewise transferred to Uden. Facing financial difficulty, the Bridgettine nuns at Uden were ultimately forced to sell off the bulk of their art holdings. In 1875, a large number of saintly statues carved by the Master of Koudewater and followers of his style were subsequently acquired en bloc by the Museum voor Geschiedenis en Kunst, a forerunner of the Rijksmuseum.

There are strong indications that the Master of Koudewater produced statues for both Mariënwater and Marienbaum. Collectively, these works – together with other similar figures produced in the northern part of the Duchy of Brabant – are today known as the ‘Koudewater Group’. The Rijksmuseum holds sixteen of the Koudewater statues in its collection. Based on the shared static but elegant poses, calm facial expressions, and matching drapery schemes characterized by deeply cut folds, however, only six of these works can be securely attributed to the master himself. The remaining ten are likely to have been produced by workshop assistants, pupils or followers of the master’s style.

The centre of the Master of Koudewater’s activity was initially thought to be in the Lower Rhine region. When acknowledging the documented provenance of the works and the stylistic similarity to Brabantine sculpture, however, the northern part of the Duchy of Brabant emerges as the most likely area of production. Attempts have been made to link the master’s carving to the flourishing artistic climate in Den Bosch and even to a documented woodcarver active there, Jan Jansz van Gheervliet.3G.C.M. van Dijck, ‘De meester van Coudewater opgespoord? Een interessante theorie’, Bossche bladen 3 (2001), pp. 75-77. Nevertheless, nothing in the Master of Koudewater’s oeuvre suggests a knowledge of the artistic innovation occurring in this northern Brabantine city. On the contrary, it appears he led a rather solitary life. His artistic origin must therefore be sought in monastic surroundings in or near Mariënwater.

Marie Mundigler, 2024

References
G.C.M. van Dijck, ‘De meester van Coudewater opgespoord? Een interessante theorie’, Bossche bladen 3 (2001), pp. 75-77; J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, pp. 86-94; 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. 61-64; J. Leeuwenberg in R. van Luttervelt et al., Middeleeuwse kunst der Noordelijke Nederlanden, exh. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 1958, pp. 192-93; G. Lemmens and G. de Werd, Beelden uit Brabant: Laatgotische kunst uit het oude hertogdom 1400-1520, exh. cat. Den Bosch (Noordbrabants Museum) 1971, pp. 17-26; J.W. Steyaert et al., Late Gothic Sculpture: The Burgundian Netherlands, exh. cat. Ghent (Museum of Fine Arts) 1994, n. 84; W. Vogelsang, De oude kerkelijke kunst in Nederland: Gedenkboek van de Nationale Tentoonstelling te ’s-Hertogenbosch in 1913, Den Bosch 1914, p. 98

Entry

The Master of Koudewater owes his name of convenience to the fact that most of his statues of saints presumably came from the Bridgettine abbey of Mariënwater in Koudewater, which was dissolved in 1713.4J. Leeuwenberg in R. van Luttervelt (ed.), Middeleeuwse kunst der Noordelijke Nederlanden, exh. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 1958, pp. 192-93. In 1875 the museum acquired three core pieces by the master (BK-NM-1195, -1196 and -1197) – together with a large number of stylistically related statues of saints, including this Female Saint – from the immediate successor to this institution, the convent of Maria Refugie in Uden.

There is no agreement about either the dating or the maker of this statue. De Werd pointed out several similarities to a St Catherine that has the same provenance provenance (BK-18069) and is also attributed to the Master of Koudewater. The points of resemblance include the hair and the way the mantle falls at the arms, which in his view could even derive from this statue.5G. Lemmens and G. de Werd, Beelden uit Brabant. Laatgotische kunst uit het oude hertogdom 1400-1520, exh. cat. Den Bosch (Noordbrabants Museum) 1971, p. 44. The way in which the mantle is wrapped around the hips and folded over at the top, instead of being held with one hand, as usually seen in the statues by the Master of Koudewater, was observed by De Werd in a Female Saint (St Barbara?) in the former Roettgen collection which he considers to be a workshop piece by the Master of Koudewater.6G. Lemmens and G. de Werd, Beelden uit Brabant. Laatgotische kunst uit het oude hertogdom 1400-1520, exh. cat. Den Bosch (Noordbrabants Museum) 1971, p. 20, fig. 4. Without further explanation, however, he attributed the work discussed here, which he dated to around 1480, to a follower.

Leeuwenberg localized the work more generally to the circle of the Master of Koudewater and assigned it to the period 1480-90.7J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, p. 92. Steyaert, on the other hand, suggested that the present statue and an Archangel Gabriel with the same provenance (BK-NM-1208) may well be among the earliest works by the ‘Koudewater group’ to have ‘originated under Utrecht influence’. In his view, this is certainly true of a work he considers related to these, a Female Saint in the Museum Vleeshuis in Antwerp, which he dated to around 1450-60,8Antwerp, Museum Vleeshuis, inv. no. AV 5501, see J.W. Steyaert et al., Late Gothic Sculpture: The Burgundian Netherlands, exh. cat. Ghent (Museum of Fine Arts) 1994, no. 84. but which is much coarser in character than the present piece. Steyaert’s hypothesis was therefore rightly rejected by Van Liebergen.9L.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. 64. According to this author, the late echo of the International Style that is detectable in the drapery of the Amsterdam statue was probably seen as a reason for Steyaert’s incorrect early dating.10L.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. 114.

As Van Liebergen observed, the relationship to the Master of Koudewater is probably greater than assumed.11L.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. 113. Although the statue does not display the same refinement and serenity as his autograph works, it does possess all of the other characteristics of his style: the oval head projecting forward, the half-closed eyes, the wavy hair, the small bust, the narrow waist and the handling of the drapery. It is probably the work of a less capable workshop assistant or an immediate follower.

Bieke van der Mark, 2024

Literature

J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, no. 61, with earlier literature; L.C.B.M. van Liebergen, Birgitta van Zweden 1303-1373. 600 jaar kunst en cultuur van haar kloosterorde, Uden (Museum voor Religieuze Kunst) 1986, no. 88; J.W. Steyaert et al., Late Gothic Sculpture: The Burgundian Netherlands, exh. cat. Ghent (Museum of Fine Arts) 1994, p. 296; 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, no. 15

Citation

B. van der Mark, 2024, 'follower of Meester van Koudewater and , Female Saint, Northern BrabantKoudewater, c. 1470 - c. 1480', in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.24334

(accessed 29 May 2025 12:26:46).

Footnotes

  • 1For the history of this abbey 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, 97.
  • 2Ibid.
  • 3G.C.M. van Dijck, ‘De meester van Coudewater opgespoord? Een interessante theorie’, Bossche bladen 3 (2001), pp. 75-77.
  • 4J. Leeuwenberg in R. van Luttervelt (ed.), Middeleeuwse kunst der Noordelijke Nederlanden, exh. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 1958, pp. 192-93.
  • 5G. Lemmens and G. de Werd, Beelden uit Brabant. Laatgotische kunst uit het oude hertogdom 1400-1520, exh. cat. Den Bosch (Noordbrabants Museum) 1971, p. 44.
  • 6G. Lemmens and G. de Werd, Beelden uit Brabant. Laatgotische kunst uit het oude hertogdom 1400-1520, exh. cat. Den Bosch (Noordbrabants Museum) 1971, p. 20, fig. 4.
  • 7J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, p. 92.
  • 8Antwerp, Museum Vleeshuis, inv. no. AV 5501, see J.W. Steyaert et al., Late Gothic Sculpture: The Burgundian Netherlands, exh. cat. Ghent (Museum of Fine Arts) 1994, no. 84.
  • 9L.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. 64.
  • 10L.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. 114.
  • 11L.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. 113.