Aan de slag met de collectie:
Master of the St Elizabeth Panels
Inner Right Wing of an Altarpiece with St Elizabeth Tending the Sick in Marburg and the Death of St Elizabeth
c. 1490 - c. 1495
Technical notes
The original support, which has been sawn through crosswise, consists of four vertically grained oak planks (27.2, 29.3, 24 and 28.6 cm). It has been planed down to approx. 0.1 cm and transferred to a new panel, which is covered by a zinc plate. The white ground must have been applied in the frame. There are unpainted edges approx. 0.5-1 cm wide on all sides, and the barely visible remains of a barbe (painted surface: 125.5 x 108.3 cm). The underdrawing was made with a brush. It is a line drawing only, and some of the lines are remarkably thick. There is no hatching. The underdrawing was made rapidly, but not all the forms were prepared. There are considerable departures from the drawn composition and forms in the painted surface, in both the foreground and background. The figure of St Elizabeth in the left foreground, for instance, was drawn upright but now leans forwards. There was also a radical shift of the burial scene, which was planned much lower down in the underdrawing. The two angels bearing Elizabeth’s soul were added to the composition at a later stage. The paint layers were applied rather thickly. Most of the figures were not reserved, but were painted on top of the underlying paint layers. The rather rough painting technique can be described as primitive.
Scientific examination and reports
- infrared reflectography: J.R.J. van Asperen de Boer, RKD, nos. AB 1167:3-1170:18, 18 juni 1990
- dendrochronology: P. Klein, RMA, oktober 1995
- condition report: B. Schoonhoven / Z. Benders [2], RMA, 29 maart 2006
- infrared reflectography: M. Wolters / M. Leeflang [2], RKD/RMA, no. RKDG369, 10 april 2006
- dendrochronology: P. Klein, RMA, 27 september 2006
Literature scientific examination and reports
Helmus 1991, pp. 133-34
Condition
Poor. There are discoloured retouchings along the joins and a heavily discoloured varnish, which is matte in the retouchings.
Conservation
- conservator unknown, 1934: cradling treated
- W. Hesterman, 22 juni 1977: general restoration
Provenance
See the provenance for SK-A-3145.
ObjectNumber: SK-A-3146
Credit line: Purchased with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt
The artist
Biography
Master of the St Elizabeth Panels (active 1490-1510)
The Master of the St Elizabeth Panels is an anonymous artist who owes his name to four panels in the Rijksmuseum, including scenes of the St Elizabeth’s Day flood of 18-19 November 1421 (SK-A-3145, SK-A-3146, SK-A-3147-A, SK-A-3147-B). Although they were once attributed to the Master of Rhenen, so called after The Conquest of Rhenen by John II of Cleves in 1499 (SK-A-1727), Buijsen convincingly demonstrated in 1988 that there were in fact two separate artists at work. Since the flood panels were made for the Grote Kerk in Dordrecht, this painter may have lived there. Nothing is known about the St Elizabeth Master, and no other paintings can be attributed to him.
References
Hoogewerff I, 1936, pp. 498-509, V, 1947, p. 116; Buijsen 1988; Helmus 1991; Van der Sterre in Turner 1996, XX, pp. 754-55, 760
(M. Wolters)
Entry
See SK-A-3145.
Collection catalogues
See SK-A-3145.
Citation
M. Wolters, 2010, 'Meester van de Heilige Elisabeth-Panelen, Inner Right Wing of an Altarpiece with St Elizabeth Tending the Sick in Marburg and the Death of St Elizabeth, c. 1490 - c. 1495', in J.P. Filedt Kok (ed.), Early Netherlandish Paintings, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.9130
(accessed 13 May 2025 06:44:50).