The Three Christian Worthies, from a Series of the Nine Worthies

Entry

The theme of the ‘Nine Worthies’ was very popular in the literature and art of the Middle Ages and early Renaissance.² Belonging to this invariable series were nine known and exalted figures representing medieval ideals of leadership, heroism and virtue: Hector, Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar (the pagan Worthies); Joshua, David and Judas Maccabeus (the Jewish Worthies); and King Arthur, Emperor Charlemagne and Godfrey of Bouillon (the Christian Worthies). Occasionally, these ‘fixed’ Worthies were supplemented with a prince or military leader of the day.

The right-hand figure on the first of two surviving panels (BK-NM-8476) can be identified by the hoop crown on his head: Emperor Charlemagne. The man in the middle can be identified as Godfrey of Bouillon, based on his resemblance to a similar figure on a Dutch, pierced panel also dating from the early sixteenth century, on which he appears against a background of crosses potent, a standard element in Boullion’s heraldry.³ By process of elimination, the left-hand figure on the Amsterdam panel can be identified as King Arthur, the third Christian Worthy. Which group of Worthies is represented on the second panel (BK-NM-8477) – Jewish versus pagan – must as yet be determined. Unlike the first panel, here one finds no telling characteristics or attributes to facilitate a proper identification. The figures’ escutcheons, possibly once painted, are now blank. In all probability, the two surviving panels were originally accompanied by a third, thus completing the series of nine. Judging by the figural style, the columns flanking each figure and the canopy-like foliate work arching above their heads, these reliefs can generally be situated in the Southern Netherlands around the beginning of the sixteenth century. In terms of function, they perhaps formed part of a richly ornamented furniture piece.

The theme of the Nine Worthies arose from a courtly tradition, which viewed these figures as exemplary knights or rulers. This is depicted in a known Southern Netherlandish tapestry series from circa 1400-10 in the Metropolitan Museum.⁴ The Worthies served as a role model for princes, members of the nobility and urbanite patricians. The theme also appears on the interior of a collapsible boxwood micro-carving in the form of the letter ‘F’, likely in reference to King François I of France.⁵ The series was also popular in the architectural ornamentation of civic governmental buildings, where the men served as symbols of justice and sound governing. In the Low Countries, the town halls of Mechelen (the Schepenhuis) and Kampen were adorned with a sculpted series of the Nine Worthies.⁶ The theme was also introduced on city fountains, guild houses and the facades of city magistrates’ residences, as in the case of Huis Cardinaal in Groningen from 1559. Information regarding the provenance of the two Amsterdam panels is scant, other than that they are said to have come from Zierikzee,⁷ where the medieval town hall would have provided a plausible context.

Bieke van der Mark, 2024