From the mid-fifteenth century onwards, the Netherlands, including the cities of Antwerp and Brussels, was recognized for the production of large retables consisting of narrative scenes in a boxed framework. The output was regulated strictly by a set of guilds - the wood suppliers, wood carvers, and painters - who would each add assay marks to the altarpieces, branding the objects with the names of their hometowns and guilds. The production of such🌠 altarpieces was substantial, but their survival was often compromised by the destruction of churches.

The present, remarkably well-preserved group once formed part of a Crucifixion scene, which would have been situated at the center of a large narrative altarpiece. It is stamped with the 'hand' symbol, denoting its creation in Antwerp, the foremost center of Netherlandish retable production after 1500. Mourning the death of Christ at the foot of the cross, the fainting Virgin Mary is supported by a grieving Saint John, Mary Magdalene, and two other Marys. A similar arrangement of figures is seen in the Crucifixion of the Passion retable in Neerharen (Belgium), an Antwerp work of circa 1525-1530.¹ The same altarpiece also displays an analogous figural style to the present relief. Its dating to circa 1520 is substantiated by a comparison with other Antwerp works from this time; see, for example, a group with a Holy Woman and a Soldier and a Standing Female Saint in the Schnütgen Museum, Cologne.² While many retable fragments lost their original gilding and polychromy ov𝓰er time, the co🅘lor here is beautifully preserved and exhibits ornate patterns and punching in the drapery that are characteristic of the period.

The output of retables in Antwerp was more serialized than it had been in Brussels, therefore the quality of the work could vary. This is not thꦍe case with the present relief, which illustrates a refinement of carving and a psychological sensitivity that indicate the work of a skilled craftsman. The poignant expressions drawn on the physiognomies of the figures reflect the demand for emotive imagery among worshippers.

¹Nieuwdorp, op. cit., no. 11 2 ibid., nos. 19 and 33

²Ibid., nos. 19 and 33

RELATED LITERATURE

H. Nieuwdorp (ed.), Antwerpse retabels, 15de-16de eeuw, exhibition c🌠atalogue, Museum voor Religieuze Kunst Antwerpen, 1993