Christ Descending into Limbo, from a Passion Altar

Entry

This group (fig. a), together with two Groups of Horsemen from a Calvary Scene (BK-1964-2-A and -B), and three large altar caisses (BK-1964-2-C, -D and -E), come from the same large carved altarpiece dedicated to the Passion of Christ.³ The central image was the Crucifixion of Christ, flanked by the two thieves, below are Roman and Jewish horsemen, and beneath them a crowd of onlookers. Christ’s mother Mary with St John the Evangelist, Mary Salome and Mary of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene or St Veronica were placed in the centre foreground at the foot of the Cross. The two groups of horsemen are all that have survived from the original composition, but a well-nigh complete Calvary scene in the Schnütgen Museum in Cologne, which is very closely akin to the Amsterdam figure groups, gives a good impression of the original arrangement (fig. b).⁴

The foremost rider in the left-hand group in the Rijksmuseum can be identified as the blind Longinus, with his eyes downcast and his left hand resting on the shoulder of the horseman beside him. The spear he held in his other hand, with which he would pierce Christ’s side, is missing. According to one legend, Longinus regained his sight when he was touched by Christ’s blood as it dripped down the spear. Stephaton can be identified in the other group. It was he who offered Christ a sponge soaked in vinegar on the end of a reed just before he drew his last breath. Stephaton is the man right at the top of the group on the left. Immediately below him an older, bearded horseman wearing a hat with a round crown points to Christ on the Cross, now missing. He is the centurion who according to the gospels of Matthew (27:54) and Mark (15:39) proclaimed, ‘Truly this [man] was the Son of God!’

Taken in conjunction with the statuary group of Christ Descending into Limbo and the three surviving caisses of this altar, each almost a metre high, the groups of horsemen indicate that the original ensemble must have been very large indeed. The whole retable consisted of a central extra wide and high compartment in which the Calvary group was placed, with three separate smaller compartments on either side. Three of the six have survived. To the left of centre there were probably scenes from the life of Christ and his Passion, such as the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Entry into Jerusalem, the Arrest and the Flagellation or Carrying the Cross,⁵ on the right were probably the Entombment, the surviving Descent into Limbo and the Resurrection. This altar must have been almost five metres wide overall and about a metre and a half high in the centre. It would have contained at least fourteen separate groups of figures; this is borne out by the location numbers ‘XII’, ‘XIIII’ and ‘XV’ scratched in the caisse.⁶ These compartments, which as it were locate the scenes in a gothic church interior, and hence symbolically bring the Bible stories closer to medieval worshippers, were linked together at the g by metal dovetail connectors – the indents they left can still be seen on the outside of the caisses.

Although originally regarded as possibly French,⁷ in 1973 Leeuwenberg considered the ensemble to be Southern Netherlandish work, made around 1440.⁸ Von Euw rightly noted in respect of the Cologne Calvary that the carving must have been influenced by painted examples created in the immediate artistic milieu of Jan van Eyck and Robert Campin.⁹ The similarity between the Cologne and Amsterdam horseback groups is so great, as Leeuwenberg noted, that the two ensembles must have come from the same workshop. This is supported by the many technical parallels that have come to light in recent research.¹⁰

Surprisingly, dendrochronological analysis carried out by Peter Klein in 2005, and a repeated investigation in 2014, indicated that the Amsterdam fragments were all created after 1500, and were probably not carved until around 1515. This dating discrepancy between style and material was extremely difficult to explain, particularly since the Cologne Calvary group does date dendrochronologically to around 1440, so that in that case materials, technical and stylistic research confirm one another. The question is made even more complex, if that were possible, by the knowledge that the polychromy of the Cologne and Amsterdam groups is so closely related in the details – the eyes and lips, for instance – that we can see the same painter’s hand. New dendrochronological analysis carried out by another researcher has meanwhile established that the results of the earlier measurements were unreliable and that the groups were made in the same period as their Cologne equivalents.

The excellent quality of the Descent into Limbo with its well-preserved old polychromy gives a good impression of the splendid impact of the original altarpiece, which must have been truly spectacular. The recent restoration of the two groups of horsemen also revealed minuscule slivers of glass in the oldest paint layers on the rocks, which must have made the scenes glitter in flickering candlelight.¹¹ The altar, thus shining, would have reminded the faithful of the countless liturgical plays that were put on in the Middle Ages. The Descent of Christ into Limbo was an important subject of these performances, serving to rescue from their distressing situation those who had lived in his spirit but not recognized him as their Redeemer. The scene was presented with great drama and action, and many props, as Christ commanded the devil in booming tones to open the mouth of hell before the audience’s eyes. Represented on the stage as the huge mouth of a monster, which in some cases could be opened and closed mechanically, it belched smoke and fire to show the spectators the horrors of the devil’s kingdom.¹² The man who carved this Descent, taking his theme from the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus,¹³ did not reflect this sort of popular entertainment. He chose a less theatrical but theologically more significant moment – Salvation. Christ helps the souls of the Old Testament, burdened by Original Sin, out of the jaws of hell: Adam leads the way, followed through the flames by Eve and the three patriarchs. Christ stands, relaxed and elegant, with both feet on the dismantled door of hell, under which the devil, pictured as a reptile, has been crushed. Two angels accompany him.

Although the salvation of souls from limbo in itself expresses a positive idea – Christ’s victory over death and the devil – the sight of the gaping mouth of hell also reminded the living in an unmistakable way of the risks of leading a sinful life. It encouraged repentance and fostered compassion for the deceased who had not yet achieved divine bliss and were awaiting redemption in the fires of purgatory. The living were spurred on to pray for these poor souls.

Frits Scholten, 2024