Carved in relief and originally polychromed. Dendrochronological analysis has pointed out that the outermost growth ring in the main wood block dates to the year 1397. Due to the absence of sapwood it is not possible to give a more specific estimate felling date of the tree than ‘after 1403’. The wood seems to correspond to the inner part of the tree, which implies that many more rings could be missing towards the bark. A production of the sculpture around c. 1520 CE could therefore be plausible despite the early date of the outermost ring. The timber originates from the eastern Baltic region (likely from the west of current Lithuania).

Minor breakages in areas. Missing are a section of the shield’s strap and small sections of the shield itself. The polychromy has been removed with a caustic.

…; from the collection A.P. Hermans-Smits (1822-1897), Eindhoven, with numerous other objects (BK-NM-2001 to -2800), fl. 14,000 for all, to the Nederlandsch Museum voor Geschiedenis en Kunst, The Hague, 1875; transferred to the museum, 1885

Object number: BK-NM-2474

This retable fragment, consisting of a Roman soldier (left) and a Pharisee, comes from the Calvary scene of a Passion altarpiece made in Antwerp. In view of the gaze and gesturing right hand of the soldier, one can be certain that at least one additional figure was standing on the right-hand side. Altarpieces – especially those produced in Antwerp – often entailed the integration of separately carved elements. Fragments, like the present work, were therefore more commonly prone to become freestanding objects removed from their original context.

These two male figures likely once belonged to a retable group depicting the scene of the Roman soldiers, who, after having crucified him on the cross, argue over a piece of Christ’s robe. As such, the Pharisee’s hand laid upon the soldier’s shoulder might possibly be interpreted as an effort to restrain him. Traditionally, this scene was situated in the right foreground of the Calvary. Analogous to the present group, one of the vigorously gesturing soldiers in the right foreground of the Crucifixion scene in the Passion altarpieces of Neerharen, Opitter and Pagny also clasps a shield that rests on the ground at his feet.¹¹H. Nieuwdorp (ed.), Antwerp Altarpieces 15th-16th centuries, 2 vols., exh. cat. Antwerp (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal) 1993, vol. 1, no. 9 and fig. 9a respectively.

The retable group bears no municipal quality mark. As Leeuwenberg observed, however, the overall style, the relief-like treatment of the figures and the provincial character of the entire piece undoubtedly betray an Antwerp origin. The poses, attire and overall style, including the ‘rippling’ folds of the left-hand soldier’s mantle indicate a dating of around 1520. Comparable, fantastical renaissance breastplates adorned with spiral motifs applied in raised relief are also found on Antwerp Passion retables in Waase (c. 1515-20) and Melbourne (c. 1511-20).²²H. Nieuwdorp (ed.), Antwerp Altarpieces 15th-16th centuries, 2 vols., exh. cat. Antwerp (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal) 1993, vol. 1, no. 9 and fig. 9a respectively.

Bieke van der Mark, 2024

J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, no. 151, with earlier literature

B. van der Mark, 2024, 'anonymous, Two Men, from a Calvary, Antwerp, c. 1520', in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20015006