Object data
walnut with polychromy and remnants of gilding
height 92.0 cm × width 30.0 cm × depth 21.0 cm
Master of Koudewater,
St Barbara
Northern Brabant, c. 1470
Technical notes
Carved and polychromed. The reverse is slightly worked.
Scientific examination and reports
- conservation report: W.J. Mares, June 1973
Literature scientific examination and reports
Jaarverslag Nederlandse Rijksmusea 1973, p. 23
Condition
Woodworm damage. Barbara’s right hand, lower left arm and hand, crown (?) and tower are missing. King Dioscurus is missing part of his right arm and right shoulder, left leg and a fleuron of his crown. The outside of the cloak is violet-coloured (translucent) and the ground layer is green; on the inside are traces of blue and the base displays traces of dirty pink with green on the sides. The polychromy is largely original. The gilding on the gown is mostly worn off, rendering visible the underlying layer of white chalk.
Conservation
- W.J. Mares, 1973: cleaned; a vertical crack in the forehead has been filled with a wedge; holes in the upper lip and chin have been restored; overpainting removed; retouches applied (to the tip of the nose, among other places).
Provenance
? Commissioned by the Bridgettine abbey Mariënwater, Koudewater, near Rosmalen, c. 1470;1 or commissioned by the Bridgettine abbey of Marienbaum, near Xanten;2 transferred to the Bridgettine convent Maria Refugie, Uden, resp. 1713-24 or 1802;3 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 voor Religieuze Kunst, Uden, 2005-12
Object number: BK-NM-1195
Copyright: Public domain
The artist
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.4 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
Here the Christian martyr St Barbara triumphantly tramples her heathen father, King Dioscurus. Originally, she probably held in her hand her attribute, the tower in which Dioscurus locked her up. Around her head Barbara wears a band of pearls decorated with several rosettes. Her wavy hair billows out at the temples and hangs in tresses over her shoulders. She is dressed in a long gown with pleated skirts. From her belt hangs a rosary with beads and a tassel. Hanging from her wide pearl necklace is a unicorn, a symbol of chastity that refers to her allegiance to Christ. Her crown is lost. King Dioscurus, dressed in a fur-trimmed jerkin, tries in vain to remove his sword from its sheath.
The statue is one of the three core pieces by the so-called Master of Koudewater, an anonymous master who owes his name of convenience to the fact that most of his statues of saints come from the abbey of Mariënwater in Koudewater, which was dissolved in 1713.5 In 1875 the museum acquired the master’s three core pieces – together with a large number of stylistically related statues of saints – from the direct successor to this abbey, the convent of Maria Refugie in Uden. With regard to the drapery scheme, hair style and hanging rosary, this St Barbara displays many similarities to a female saint, nearly twice as small, that was sold at auction in Brussels in 1964.6 This statue is considered an autograph work by the Master of Koudewater.7 Moreover, the Národní Galerie in Prague has a related statue of a female saint (Mary?) holding a pear, which can be attributed to the Master of Koudewater or his workshop. She, too, displays the same hair style and comparable drapery, albeit in reverse.8
Given the great technical and stylistic similarities of these works, it is highly likely that the present statue originated at more or less the same time are the other two core pieces by the Master of Koudewater (BK-NM-1196 and BK-NM-1197).9 The walnut figures are fashioned along the same lines. All three of them assume a graceful, stately pose and cast their gaze downwards. Their heads project forward to a remarkable degree. The polychromy also displays many similarities, particularly in the faces. For example, the wisps of hair painted on the face, the pale pink colour of the cheeks and the red dots in the corners of the eyes were applied in exactly the same way to all three statues. Moreover, the statues of Catherine and Barbara display comparable drapery schemes: both figures use their left hands to lift the skirts of their gowns, which feature pomegranate motifs. Moreover, they are both portrayed standing on their suppressors, which is a rarity in Barbara’s case.10
On the basis of all these similarities, it has been suggested that these two female saints were conceived as a pair.11 In the late Middle Ages, Catherine and Barbara were, after all, often portrayed together as representing the contemplative life and the active life, respectively. Both aspects can be found literally in the philosophy of life adhered to by the Bridgettine Order, which emphasized the importance of handiwork and self-study. However, this pendant theory is not supported by the differing dimensions, for the St Catherine – including the missing base on which she stood – was more than 5 centimetres taller than her supposed companion piece.
There are strong indications that the Master of Koudewater also carved several statues for Marienbaum, an abbey in the vicinity of Cleves that was founded in 1460 by the mother abbey of the Bridgettines in Koudewater. Some of the devotional works of art owned by this abbey, which was dissolved in 1802, also found their way to Uden,12 which explains the overrepresentation of certain saints by the hand of the Master of Koudewater in Uden in the nineteenth century. Van Liebergen made the interesting suggestion that the three core pieces, among others, could possibly be traced back to the Lower Rhine abbey of Marienbaum.13 This institution was, in fact, under the direct influence of the court at Cleves, which might explain the distinctly majestic character of this group. As regards the statue of St Catherine (BK-NM-1196), this theory seems to be supported by the noble insignia of the Order of St Anthony hanging on her chain, which represents, in all likelihood, the Cleves version of the insignia.14
Bieke van der Mark, 2024
Literature
J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, no. 56, with earlier literature; Jaarverslag Nederlandse Rijksmusea 1973, p. 25; L.C.B.M. van Liebergen, Birgitta van Zweden 1303-1373. 600 jaar kunst en cultuur van haar kloosterorde, exh. cat. Uden (Museum voor Religieuze Kunst) 1986, no. 64; A.M. Koldeweij (ed.), In Buscoducis 1450-1629. Kunst uit de Bourgondische tijd te ‘s-Hertogenbosch. De cultuur van de late middeleeuwen en renaissance, exh. cat. Den Bosch (Noordbrabants Museum) 1990, pp. 18-19; 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, p. 63; Scholten in H. van Os et al., Netherlandish Art in the Rijksmuseum 1400-1600, coll. cat. Amsterdam 2000, no. 5; B. Kruijsen, Verzamelen van middeleeuwse kunst in Nederland 1830-1903_, Nijmegen 2002, no. 37; K.W. Woods, Imported Images: Netherlandish Late Gothic Sculpture in England c. 1400-c. 1550, Donington 2007, p. 59; M. van Vlierden and J. Giltaij, Uit het goede hout gesneden: Middeleeuwse beelden uit de collectie Schoufour-Martin in Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, coll. cat. Rotterdam 2008, p. 149; Scholten in F. Scholten (ed.), 1100-1600, coll. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 2015, no. 19
Citation
B. van der Mark, 2024, 'Meester van Koudewater or , St Barbara, Northern Brabant, c. 1470', in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.24329
(accessed 23 December 2024 15:41:48).