Object data
oak
height 105 cm × width 45 cm × depth 26 cm
anonymous
St Gereon
Lower Rhine region, c. 1520
Inscriptions
- coat of arms, on the escutcheon in St Gereon's hand, in relief: a cross (the coat of arms of St Gereon)
Technical notes
Carved and originally polychromed. The sculpture’s core has been carved from a single woodblock. On the reverse, a large insert has been added at the bottom. Along the seam of the cloak pointillé has been applied. The reverse has been partly hollowed out. Carved and originally polychromed. The sculpture has been carved from a single woodblock, but includes a later repair in the plinth. Along the seam of the cloak pointillé has been applied. The reverse has been partly hollowed out. Dendrochronological analysis has pointed out that the outermost growth ring in the wood dates to the year 1483. Due to the absence of sapwood it is not possible to give a more specific estimate felling date of the tree than ‘after 1491’. The timber originates from the northwest of Germany.
Scientific examination and reports
- dendrochronology: M. Domínguez Delmás (DendroResearch), RMA, DR_R2023028, 25 August 2023
Condition
The polychromy has been removed with a caustic. The headgear, banner and the belt of the shield are missing; later replacements (fig. a), were removed between 1915 and 1973. The codpiece has been chiselled off. Part of the plinth has been replaced.
Conservation
- conservator unknown, in or after, 1915 - in or before 1973: removal of a later (stain?) layer and several replacements, including the cap and the area behind the codpiece.
Provenance
? Domkerk, Utrecht;1 …; from the estate of ‘Count’ Jan Jacob Nahuys (1801-1864), Utrecht, with eight other objects (BK-NM-20, -23 to -27, -29 and -31), fl. 400 for all, to the Dutch State, in or after 1864;2 transferred to the Nederlandsch Museum voor Geschiedenis en Kunst, The Hague, 1875; transferred to the museum, 1885; on loan to the Museum Kurhaus, Cleves, 2004-09; on loan to Castle Doornenburg, Doornenburg, 2011-14
Object number: BK-NM-23
Copyright: Public domain
Entry
This saintly knight stands on a polygonal plinth with irregularly curving sides. In his right hand, he originally held a banner. With his left hand, he grasps a belt once fastened to the escutcheon at his feet. The relief-carved cross emblazoned on this escutcheon can be identified as the characteristic symbol of Gereon, a saint particularly venerated in Cologne. The cross also commonly appears on the saint’s armour. As commander of a detachment of the Theban Legion stationed in this city around AD 300, Gereon was beheaded and his body discarded in a pit as punishment for his unshakeable faith in Christ, together with his soldiers.
Gereon wears a coat of armour rendered in articulate detail. Most remarkable are the cuisses protecting the upper legs, fastened with leather straps and extending down to the knees. Breast armour protects his upper torso, ornamented with a shell-shaped palmette. The lengthy cloak, which completely envelops the figure in back, wraps up and over the left shoulder, thus revealing the left forearm and armoured elbow. The nature of the original headgear remains unclear: perhaps a helmet or modish beret. The codpiece has been cut away.
Considering the saint’s identity and the material applied (oak), the sculpture is certain to have originated from either Cologne or the Lower Rhine region. Displaying a significant agreement in conception is a St Gereon preserved in the Schnütgen Museum in Cologne, which judging by its virtually identical armour dates from the same period.3 Carved in limewood, this sculpture is described as a work of Cologne production, attributed to a woodcarver in the circle of Master Tilman (active 1487-d. 1515) and dated circa 1520-25. The Amsterdam knight would also have been carved around this time, but in the Lower Rhine region as opposed to Cologne.
Guido de Werd, 2004 (updated by Bieke van der Mark, 2024)
This entry was originally published 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. 17
Literature
J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, no. 121; R. Karrenbrock et al., Die Holzskulpturen des Mittelalters II: 1400 bis 1540. Teil 1: Köln, Westfalen, Norddeutschland, coll. cat. Cologne (Museum Schnütgen) 2001, pp. 357-58
Citation
G. de Werd/ B. van der Mark, 2024, 'anonymous, St Gereon, Lower Rhine region, c. 1520', in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.24396
(accessed 13 November 2024 19:03:19).