Carved and originally partly gilded. A hole for securing a (now missing) agrafe can be discerned at the level of the Virgin’s chest. The sculpture’s reverse has been sculpted summarily; the reverse side of the bench has been hollowed out. Isotope analyses indicates that the alabaster comes from the Ickelheim quarry in the Steigerwald Mountains in Franconia, in accordance with alabaster samples taken from other sculptures belonging to the ‘Rimini’ corpus analysed by W. Kloppmann et al. up to the present time.

The entire surface has sustained natural abrasion, particularly in the faces. The agrafe of the Virgin’s mantle is missing. Remnants of red bole discernible on the mantle’s hem provided a ground for gilding.

…; collection A. Pit, Amsterdam; from whom on loan to the museum, since 1901; by whom donated to the museum, 1904; on loan to the Museum Kurhaus, Cleves, 2004-09

Object number: BK-NM-11667

Credit line: Gift of A. Pit, Amsterdam

The present Pietà belongs to a large group of alabaster sculptures that, on stylistic and compositional grounds, are associated with one of the most influential and original sculptors active in the first half of the fifteenth century: the so-called Rimini Master. This anonymous sculptor derives his name of convenience from an impressive alabaster Crucifixion altarpiece (c. 1430) formerly in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Covignano near Rimini and today preserved at the Liebieghaus Museum in Frankfurt am Main.⁷⁷M. Maek-Gérard, Nachantike grossplastische Bildwerke, vol. 2, Italien, Frankreich, Niederlande, 1380-1530/40, coll. cat. Frankfurt am Main (Liebieghaus) 1981, nos. 71-89. K.W. Woods, Cut in Alabaster: A Material of Sculpture and its European Traditions 1330-1530, London 2018, pp. 84-106. The wide dissemination of the Rimini Master’s works across Europe – particularly the Netherlands, France, Germany and Italy – suggests this production was expressly oriented toward the export market. A precise localization of the master’s workshop remains elusive, owing both to paucity of information about the origins of the surviving pieces and to the stylistic ambiguity of his oeuvre, which reveals affinities with Southern Netherlandish as well as German, especially Middle Rhinish, traditions. Arguments situating the Rimini Master in the Burgundian Netherlands appear most convincing, supported by direct compositional parallels with works by leading Flemish painters, such as the Master of Flémalle, Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden.⁸⁸W. Paatz, ‘Stammbaum der gotischen Alabasterskulptur 1316-1442’, in W. Braunfels, Kunstgeschichtliche Studien für H. Kauffmann, Berlin 1956, pp. 127-35; A. Legner, ‘Der Alabasteraltar aus Rimini’, Städel Jahrbuch n.s. 2 (1969), pp. 101-88; Maek-Gerard in M. Maek-Gérard, Nachantike grossplastische Bildwerke, vol. 2, Italien, Frankreich, Niederlande, 1380-1530/40, coll. cat. Frankfurt am Main (Liebieghaus) 1981, nos. 71-89; P. Williamson, Northern Gothic Sculpture 1200-1450, coll. cat. London (Victoria and Albert Museum) 1988, p. 187; K.W. Woods, ‘The Master of Rimini and the Tradition of Alabaster Carving in the Early 15th Netherlands’, Netherlands Yearbook for History of Art/Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 62 (2012), pp. 56-83, esp. p. 73 and figs. 2, 3 and 5; Scholten in S. Kemperdick and F. Lammertse et al., The Road to Van Eyck, exh. cat. Rotterdam (Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen) 2012, pp. 74-75, 215; J. Sander et al., In neuem Glanz: das Schächer-Fragment des Meisters von Flémalle im Kontext/With new splendour: The Crucified Thief by the Master of Flémalle in Context, exh. cat. Frankfurt am Main (Liebieghaus) 2017-18, pp. 148-49 and nos. 1, 7, 8.

Woods proposed a plausible, hypothetical identification of the Rimini Master as the leading alabaster specialist Gilles de Backere (also Le Blackere, d. c. 1443) from Bruges.⁹⁹See K.W. Woods, ‘The Master of Rimini and the Tradition of Alabaster Carving in the Early 15th Netherlands’, Netherlands Yearbook for History of Art/Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 62 (2012), pp. 56-83, esp. pp. 73-77. In 1436, Duke Phillip the Good commissioned De Backere for the funerary monument of Michelle of Valois (completed by Tydeman Maes, now demolished) in the former Sint-Baafsabdij in Ghent. At this time, Bruges was a prominent artistic centre with an exceptionally extensive trading network. The city could therefore easily have imported sufficient quantities of alabaster and subsequently exported sculpted works across Europe. Recent material-technical analysis has shown that the alabaster of the Amsterdam Pietà, like that of other sculptures in the ‘Rimini’ stylistic group analysed up to the present time, originates from the Steigerwald Mountains south-east of Würzburg.¹⁰¹⁰W. Kloppmann, ‘Alabaster: Das Material der Rimini-Werkstatt und seine Herkunft’, in S. Roller and H. Theiss (eds.), Mission Rimini: Material, Geschichte, Restaurierung, Der Rimini-Altar, Frankfurt am Main 2021, pp. 197-83, esp. pp. 181-82. Whether a trade route supplying this alabaster to Bruges existed in the first half of the fifteenth century, however, still remains to be confirmed.

A Pietà preserved at the church of San Francesco in Rimini, known as the Madonna dell’Acqua, was likely exported to that city at the same time as the Crucifixion altarpiece now in the Liebieghaus.¹¹¹¹G. Swarzenski, ‘Deutsche Alabasterplastik des 15. Jahrhunderts’, Städel-Jahrbuch 1 (1921), pp. 167-213, esp. no. 6, fig. 100; K.W. Woods, Cut in Alabaster: A Material of Sculpture and its European Traditions 1330-1530, London 2018, fig. 5. An even more finely executed Pietà in the Victoria and Albert Museum (London) is also regarded as an autograph work by the Rimini Master.¹²¹²London, Victoria and Albert Museum, inv. no. A.28-1960. P. Williamson and P. Evelyn, Northern Gothic Sculpture 1200-1450, coll. cat. London (Victoria and Albert Museum) 1988, no. 54; P. Williamson (ed.), European Sculpture at the Victoria and Albert Museum, coll. cat. London 1996, p. 64. These two pieces serve as key reference points for determining numerous comparable alabaster Pietàs, which display considerable variation in style and quality. In combination with some of his other compositions, they appear to have been reproduced in large quantities outside the master’s own workshop by contemporaries and later followers.¹³¹³In 1921 Swarzenski had already compiled an overview of the nature and distribution of alabaster Pietàs executed in the style of the Rimini Master based on twenty works known to him at the time, see G. Swarzenski, ‘Deutsche Alabasterplastik des 15. Jahrhunderts’, Städel-Jahrbuch 1 (1921), pp. 167-213, esp. pp. 204-06, figs. 96-101. For a recent discussion of the Pietà depictions related to the Master of Rimini, see S. Roller, ‘Der Rimini-Altar: Meisterwerk in Alabaster’, in S. Roller and H. Theiss (eds.), Mission Rimini: Material, Geschichte, Restaurierung, Der Rimini-Altar, Frankfurt am Main 2021, pp. 24-105, esp. pp. 57-63. The dissemination of all these works throughout Europe, as well as the repetitive nature of this production, recalls the even larger-scale export of English ‘Nottingham’ alabaster workshops in the second half of the fourteenth century. The evident similarity of these alabasters does not necessarily imply that a work was produced in the Rimini Master’s immediate geographical circle. On stylistic grounds, for example, an alabaster Calvary in Halberstadt Cathedral is believed to have been carved around 1440-50 in central Germany (Erfurt or Magdeburg?) after a (now lost) exported example produced either by the Master of Rimini¹⁴¹⁴A. Legner, ‘Der Alabasteraltar aus Rimini’, Städel Jahrbuch n.s. 2 (1969), pp. 101-88, esp. p. 105. or by a sculptor trained in his workshop.¹⁵¹⁵Halberstädt, Domschatz, inv. no. DS381, see N. Jopek and S. Roller, ‘Der Halberstädter Kalvarienberg – Versuch einer kunsthistorischen Einordnung’, in K. Danz et al., ‘Würfelnde Kriegsknechte’ aus dem Alabaster-Kalvarienberg Dom und Domschatz Halberstadt, Berlin 2010, pp. 64-116, esp. pp. 84-109. A highly refined Pietà preserved at Bad Mergentheim is believed to have been produced c. 1440 in Frankenland under the influence of models from the Rimini workshop, H. Wentzel, ‘Die Marienklage aus Alabaster in Mergentheim’, Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen 2 (1960) pp. 55-74.

With the Pietàs directly associated with the workshop of the Rimini Master, the Virgin is shown seated on a bench, with her son’s dead body lying nearly horizontal across her lap (Horizontaltyp). She supports either his head or shoulder with her right hand, while leaning either backwards or slightly towards him. As with alabaster-carved scenes of the crucified Christ and the Two Thieves, Christ’s body is invariably strikingly ‘flat’ (broad, but extremely slender), while his legs form an almost perfect ninety-degree angle at the knees in relation to the ground. The Virgin’s robes are voluminous, multi-layered, with rich drapery folds in the Weicher Stil, the central-European variant of the International Gothic, a style which by the 1430s was on its decline. Mary wears a belt around her waist. Noteworthy is that the Rimini Master’s Pietà type ultimately originates, not from the Southern Netherlands or France, but instead from the Bohemian and central European artistic tradition.¹⁶¹⁶Cf A. Kutal, ‘Les problemes limitrophes de la Tchèque au tournant de 1400’, Sbornik Praci filosofické fakulty Brnènské University 13 (1969), pp. 5-24. A. Mazzotta, C. Salsi et al., Vesperbild: Alle origini della Pietà di Michelangelo, exh. cat. Milan (Castello Sforzesco) 2018-19, p. 50.

In general, the Amsterdam Pietà follows the models from Rimini and London. Unlike the latter, however, where Christ’s right arm lies directly next to his body while Mary elevates the other by the forearm, Christ’s arms on the present work instead lie across each other, resting on his lap.¹⁷¹⁷The same motif can also be discerned on a Pietà held in a Belgian private collection, see Catalogus van de tentoonstelling gewijd aan middeleeuwse beeldhouwkunst behorend tot Belgische privé verzamelingen/Catalogue de l’exposition sculptures du Moyen Age conservées dans des collections privées Belges, exh. cat. Laarne (Laarne Castle) 1969, no. 66. The motif can be traced back to earlier Vesperbilder from Bohemia and central Europe. Another difference is the positioning of Mary ’s veil: on most of the Pietàs in the Rimini group, the veil drapes across the front of the neck. On the present work, the veil simply drapes down over the shoulders. Based on the small hole at the level of where the mantle closes, one may conclude that it was originally adorned with an agrafe (perhaps an encrusted semi-precious gem), slightly enhancing the sculpture’s allure. The hem of Christ’s loincloth bears the customary decorative incisions; the borders of Mary’s robes, though lacking this detail, would originally have been gilded.

When compared to the exquisitely refined carvings produced in the Rimini Master’s workshop, the artistic level of the present piece is considerably lower. While its currently weathered state obscures much of its original quality, the overall composition is undeniably simpler and the attention to detail notably reduced. Moreover, the rather impassive faces of both Mary and Christ lack the striking expressiveness that so strongly characterizes the Rimini Master’s figures.

The overall style of the present Pietà, and especially the remarkably small heads of Christ and the Virgin, their serene facial expression and the softer, less complicated fall of the drapery folds, are akin to a group of alabasters dating from circa 1430-50, belonging to the transitional phase between the International Gothic and Late Gothic styles. Steyaert views these as works foreshadowing of a group of alabasters with strong ‘Eyckian’ traits (specifically the heavy, erratic drapery folds) dating from 1450-70. The origin of this latter group in the Southern Netherlands or northern France is virtually certain.¹⁸¹⁸For this style group, see J.W. Steyaert et al., Late Gothic Sculpture: The Burgundian Netherlands, exh. cat. Ghent (Museum of Fine Arts) 1994, no. 101. Cf. also a Christ and four apostles in the Robert Lehman Collection, New York, inv. nos. 1975.1.1484, to -.1488, see I. Wardropper, European Sculpture, 1400-1900, coll. cat. New York (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) 2011, nos. 35-39 as ‘Southern Netherlands or North France, c. 1450-70’, and two apostles in the Liebieghaus, W. Schenkluhn, Nachantike kleinplastische Bildwerke, vol. 1, Mittelalter, 11. Jahrhundert bis 1530-40, coll. cat. Frankfurt am Main (Liebieghaus) 1987, nos. 13, 14 as ‘Netherlandish or Burgundian, c. 1450-75’.

Alabaster Pietàs stylistically comparable to the present work are now held in the Wyvern Collection,¹⁹¹⁹P. Williamson, Medieval and Renaissance Sculpture and Metalwork: The Wyvern Collection, coll. cat. London 2018, no. 118 as ‘Southern Netherlandish, c. 1430’. the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg,²⁰²⁰Nuremberg, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, inv. no. Pl.O.357, see F.M. Kammel et al., Spiegel der Seligkeit: Privates Bild und Frömmigkeit im Spätmittelalter, exh. cat. Nuremberg (Germanisches Nationalmuseum) 2000, no. 27, as ‘Middle Rhine, c. 1440’. My thanks to Stefan Roller, who drew this piece to my attention. and formerly in Hildesheim Cathedral.²¹²¹Hildesheim, Diözesanmuseum, inv. no. 80 (now lost), see M. Brandt, Schatzkammer auf Zeit: Die Sammlungen des Bischofs Eduard Jakob Wedekin 1796-1870, exh. cat. Hildesheim (Diözesanmuseum) 1991, no. 7, as ‘German?, c. 1400-10’. The similarity of a fourth Pietà in Frankfurt is so marked that it could possibly have been produced in the same workshop.²²²²Frankfurt am Main, Museum für Angewandte Kunst (Collection Mulert), see H. Beck, W. Beeh et al., Kunst um 1400 am Mittelrhein: Ein Teil der Wirklichkeit, exh. cat. Frankfurt am Main (Liebieghaus) 1975, no. 63, fig. 118 as ‘circle of the Rimini Master, c. 1430’. Noteworthy is that, in this specific case, the positioning of the Virgin and Christ’s arms do follow the Rimini model. Its carefully polished surface would also have characterized the now dull Amsterdam Pietà in its original state. The shared facial type (proportionally small faces with round, closed or downcast eyes) and drapery treatment of these two works, can also be observed on works such as a Standing Apostle formerly preserved at the Premonstratensian abbey in Grimberg,²³²³Sold by the abbey, present whereabouts unknown, see KIK-IRPA, object no. 89387. and a Madonna on the Crescent Moon at the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent, both executed in alabaster.²⁴²⁴Ghent, Museum of Fine Arts, inv. no. 1986-C; see KIK-IRPA, object no. 87360. J.W. Steyaert et al., Late Gothic Sculpture: The Burgundian Netherlands, exh. cat. Ghent (Museum of Fine Arts) 1994, no. 100, as ‘Southern Netherlands or Germany, c. 1430-50’, and K.W. Woods, Cut in Alabaster: A Material of Sculpture and its European Traditions 1330-1530, London 2018, fig. 21 on p. 90 as ‘Netherlandish, mid-15th century’. Cf. also an alabaster Lamentation in Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, inv. no. 59.176, see H. Wentzel, ‘,Die Marienklage aus Alabaster in Mergentheim’, Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen 55 (1960), fig. 8 as ‘Southern Netherlands or German (Schwabisch), c. 1460’. It is evident that these works were produced under the direct influence of the Rimini Master’s (exported?) models. Nevertheless, their precise origin remains uncertain.

Bieke van der Mark, 2025

J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, no. 787; De Werd in F. Scholten and G. de Werd, Een hogere werkelijkheid: Duitse en Franse beeldhouwkunst 1200-1600 uit het Rijksmuseum Amsterdam/Eine höhere Wirklichkeit, Deutsche und Französische Skulptur 1200-1600 aus dem Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, exh. cat. Cleves (Museum Kurhaus Kleve) 2004-06, no. 21; W. Kloppmann, ‘Alabaster: Das Material der Rimini-Werkstatt und seine Herkunft’, in S. Roller and H. Theiss (eds.), Mission Rimini: Material, Geschichte, Restaurierung, Der Rimini-Altar, Frankfurt am Main 2021, pp. 197-83, esp. p. 181; A. Lipinska, ‘Alabasterskulptur zwischen sprezzatura und Verwandlung’, in M. Bushart and H. Haug (eds.), Spur der Arbeit: Oberfläche und Werkprozess, Cologne/Weimar/Vienna 2018, pp. 111-26, esp. fig. 28

B. van der Mark, 2025, 'follower of Meester van Rimini or or , Pietà, Low Countries or Northern France or Middle Rhine, c. 1430 - c. 1450', in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20036196