Virgin and Child

Entry

Stylistically this elegant Virgin and Child ties in particularly well with a number of statues that are traditionally associated with Utrecht in the second half of the fifteenth century. A Utrecht origin of this kind is supported by information provided by the art dealer from whom this figure was acquired. He stated that the statue was given by the Sint-Joriskerk in Spierdijk-Berkhout to the father of the last owner, as compensation for painting work in the church; before that it was said to have come from the Grote Kerk in Alkmaar.¹⁰ In view of the influence of late medieval Utrecht woodcarving in the county of Holland, the appearance of a Utrecht statue in or around Alkmaar is not surprising.

The Virgin’s graceful pose, with her slightly tilted head, is typical of Utrecht. The high, bulging forehead, small almond-shaped eyes, narrow mouth, short, round chin and delicately waved hair pulled back from the Virgin’s face are likewise characteristic. Such style features are also found, for instance, in the work of some of the most important Utrecht woodcarvers of the later fifteenth and early sixteenth century, such as Adriaen van Wesel (c. 1417-in or after 1490),¹¹ and the anonymous Master of the Utrecht Stone Female Head (c. 1490-c. 1530), who was working a generation later,¹² as well as in some anonymous Utrecht Virgins, among other things on stone mantelpiece reliefs and in pipeclay.¹³ Although the stylistic similarities point strongly towards Utrecht, it is not possible to identify the hand of a specific maker in this statue. In particular, the way the woodcarver arranged the folds of the Virgin’s gown has little in common with these statues.

There is a greater kinship with the work of the Master of the Emmerich Saints, the name of convenience of an anonymous woodcarver now believed to have trained in Utrecht and subsequently moved to the Lower Rhine region (Emmerich?), where he made his principal works around 1490.¹⁴ This affinity is expressed in the ‘flowing’ treatment of the hair, in the device of allowing one of the knees to show against the fabric of the robe, and in the drapery schemes, where a certain sharpness and angularity – for instance the Virgin’s right elbow – alternate with long, elegantly falling draperies with vertical folds. This is particularly evident where Mary holds up her cloak. On the ground and against the Virgin’s right shoulder the fabric falls in subtle horizontal and overlapping fields. To a greater or lesser extent, these characteristics also occur in the principal works in the Master of the Emmerich Saints group, which were made in the Lower Rhine region around 1490. All in all, these stylistic parallels suggest that this Virgin was made in the circle of the Master of the Emmerich Saints in the last quarter of the fifteenth century. It is unclear as to whether the woodcarver responsible for it was working in Utrecht or the Lower Rhine region (Emmerich?) at that time. Given its size and the fact that it was finished in the round, the statue probably came from a relatively small altar, possibly as the pinnacle of the altarpiece under a canopy.

Frits Scholten, 2024