Object data
oak
height 31 cm × width 107.5 cm × depth 10 cm
anonymous
Lintel with Sts Catherine or Barbara, Olaf and Anthony
Guelders, c. 1500 - c. 1525
Inscriptions
- coat of arms, at the left, in relief: parted per pale, 1. a hunting horn; 2. a triangular harrow
- coat of arms, at the right, in relief: parted per pale, 1. three roses; 2. a fish, crowned and vertically aligned
Technical notes
Carved in high relief and originally polychromed.
Condition
Cracked, with damage in numerous areas. The polychromy has been removed with a caustic.
Provenance
…; ? Zaltbommel;1 first recorded in the museum in 19042
Object number: BK-18838
Copyright: Public domain
Entry
Three figures adorn this wood-carved door lintel: at the far left, a female saint (Catherine or Barbara), depicted with a sword and standing on her oppressor (Emperor Maxentius or Dioscoros, respectively); at centre, the saintly king Olaf II of Norway, with a sceptre and goblet in his hands and a personification of the pagan religion he fought against lying at his feet; and at the far right, St Anthony Abbot, accompanied by his pig. Pit reported that the lintel originated from the city of Zaltbommel, but without further documentation.3 Nevertheless, stylistic elements such as the broad, sharply defined faces, the wild hair and profuse drapery folds indeed corroborate a Guelders origin. Attempts to determine the donor’s identity on the basis of the escutcheons have as yet proved unsuccessful. Equally elusive is an explanation for the combined appearance of these three saintly figures – possibly patron or name saints – and to whom or what they might refer as depicted on the lintel.
Bieke van der Mark, 2024
Literature
J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, no. 899, with earlier literature
Citation
B. van der Mark, 2024, 'anonymous, Lintel with Sts Catherine or Barbara, Olaf and Anthony, Guelders, c. 1500 - c. 1525', in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.25681
(accessed 22 November 2024 18:05:25).