Object data
boxwood
height 182 mm × width 145 mm (opened) × width 85 mm (closed) × depth 45 mm
Adam Dircksz (workshop of),
Triptych with St Christopher, St George, St Barbara, The Virgin in Sole, St Catherine and St John the Evangelist
Northern Netherlands, ? Delft, c. 1500 - c. 1530
Inscriptions
- inscription, upper section, interior, left wing, carved: SANCTA BARBARA
- inscription, upper section, interior, below central scene, carved: TOTA PULCHRA ES AMICA MEA. CANT. 4 (Thou art all fair, my love. Song 4) [Song of Solomon 4:7]
- inscription, upper section, interior, right wing, carved: SANCTA KATRINA
Technical notes
The wings are carved in low relief. They turn on metal spindles: at the top, in wooden hinges affixed to the side of the central door; at the bottom, in small holes made in the altar itself. The central scene is executed in a higher relief, composed of varying doweled and/or glued elements: together with the angels, the moulded frame forms a whole, with the front consisting of various components, including the stars – carved separately and affixed with glue – between the rays of sun emanating from the Virgin.1 The small doors on the reverse turn on wooden spindles: at the top in wooden hinges; at the bottom, in small holes made in the socle. The altarpiece is finished in great detail. The background of the aureole, the wings, the inscriptions and tiles are enlivened with punched dots.
Condition
Missing are two hovering angels holding a crown above the Virgin’s head, and four stars surrounding her. The hinged section at the bottom of the right wing has been repaired.
Provenance
…; collection Chaplain H. Beekman, Utrecht, in or before 1857;2 …; Aartsbisschoppelijk Museum, Utrecht, before 1883;3 transferred to the Museum Catharijneconvent, Utrecht (inv. no. ABM bh356), 1976; on loan to the museum, since 1979
Object number: BK-BR-946-H
Credit line: On loan from Museum Catharijneconvent
Copyright: Public domain
The artist
Adam Dircksz (active in the Northern Netherlands, ? Delft c. 1500-35)
In 1968, Leeuwenberg discovered a Latin inscription on a late-gothic prayer nut – Adam Theodrici me fecit – which he translated to the Dutch equivalent Adam Dircksz. The prayer nut in question, preserved in Copenhagen,4 belongs to a stylistically and technically homogeneous group of micro-carvings in boxwood. Leeuwenberg attributed this group to a single Netherlandish artist. The micro-carvings by Adam Dircksz and his workshop stand out due to their exceptional craftsmanship. The few known examples of lesser quality are deemed as works carved by Dircksz’s followers.
Adam Dircksz’s workshop was active in the first three or four decades of the sixteenth century, with a peak in production occurring in the period 1510-25. In light of observed formal similarities to a number of Flemish altarpieces, Leeuwenberg and most later authors believed these carvings were produced in a workshop located in a major city in the Southern Netherlands. Recent scholarship, however, has shown that most of the early owners of these diminutive carvings in fact originated from the northern county of Holland, some having direct ties to the city of Delft.5 Contrary to other parts of the Netherlands, the name ‘Adam’ was fairly common in Delft during the early sixteenth century. No archival sources have as yet to come to light to corroborate the location of Adam Dircksz’s workshop in Delft, though a devastating fire that destroyed the municipal archives in 1536 must be kept in mind.
Adam Dircksz’s workshop was specialized in exceptionally detailed, boxwood micro-carvings. These predominantly small devotional works of art were intended for a high-end market, including the Habsburg court in Brussels and Mechelen. Miniature altarpieces, devotional monstrances, rosaries, carved initials and knife handles were all part of the workshop’s repertoire. The majority of its output, however, consisted of so-called prayer nuts or prayer beads: hollow spherical objects that could be opened to reveal complex miniature biblical and religious scenes concealed within. With more than one hundred boxwood carvings attributed to Adam Dircksz and his workshop, the technical level of this highly innovative, specialized production was unsurpassed. Together with the unusual presence of a signature – inscribed in Latin – there is no doubt that Adam Dircksz was a well-educated and self-assured artist.
Two prayer nuts by Adam Dircksz are preserved in the Rijksmuseum (BK-1981-1 and BK-2010-16). The first nut, containing scenes of the Carrying of the Cross and the Crucifixion, was commissioned by the Delft patrician Evert Jansz van Bleiswijk and his wife, as indicated by an inscription inside the prayer bead and the coats of arms on the outer shell. The second nut, encased in a contemporaneous silver and gold housing, holds scenes of the Nativity and the Adoration of the Magi.
Sculptural works produced in the Low Countries in the early sixteenth century rarely bear signatures. The possibility exists that the inscription Adam Theodrici me fecit refers to the patron as opposed to the artist,6 in which case the micro-carvings of this homogenous group would revert to their former status as anonymous works.
Marie Mundigler, 2024
References
J. Leeuwenberg, ‘De gebedsnoot van Eewert Jansz van Bleiswick en andere werken van Adam Dircksz’, in J. Duverger, Miscellanea Jozef Duverger. Bijdragen tot de kunstgeschiedenis der Nederlanden, vol. 2, Ghent 1968, pp. 614-24; J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, pp. 126-27; S.J. Romanelli, South Netherlandish Boxwood Devotional Sculpture, 1475-1530, 1992 (diss., Columbia University); F. Scholten, ‘A Prayer Nut in a Silver Housing by “Adam Dirckz”’, The Rijksmuseum Bulletin 59 (2011), no. 4, pp. 323-47; F. Scholten (ed.), Small Wonders: Late-Gothic Boxwood Micro-Carvings from the Low Countries, exh. cat. Toronto (Art Gallery of Ontario), New York (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cloisters), Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 2016-17, esp. pp. 24-35
Entry
This small triptych can be attributed to Adam Theodrici (‘Adam Dircksz’) on the basis of the style of the micro-carving.7 In 1960, Leeuwenberg identified this otherwise unknown artist as the maker of an entire group of miniature sculptures carved in boxwood on the basis of a prayer nut bearing his signature, today preserved in Copenhagen.8 Recent scholarship has established that Dircksz’s workshop was in all probability located in a city in the Northern Netherlands, presumably Delft, where it is certain to have been active for approximately one generation (see the entry on BK-1981-1).9 For the period in question, this workshop was responsible for a steady output of dozens of prayer nuts and other miniature carvings produced for the elite in the Netherlands and, in some cases, for foreign patrons elsewhere.
Although one of the more austere examples of the workshop’s production, this miniature altarpiece nevertheless excels in the highly refined and sculptural depiction of the central scene, with Mary in sole. She presents the Christ Child, supported on her arm, with an apple. As such, she can be identified as the ‘new Eve’, who as Christ’s immaculate mother is an instrument in the redemption of original sin incurred by the Old Testament figures Adam and Eve. Mary, flanked by two small angels kneeling at her feet in adoration, stands crushing the head of a cowering, lion-like monster – the personification of the devil’s wrath. Originally suspended in the upper section above this central scene were two hovering angels, together holding Mary’s crown. The altarpiece’s remaining scenes, executed in low relief, are devoted to popular saints from the late Middle Ages. Depicted on the interior of the wings are St Barbara and St Catherine, attired as affluent women with falcons perched on their arms. In addition, each figure bears the attributes of her martyrdom (in both cases a sword, with Barbara accompanied by a tower, Catherine a broken wheel). These female saints were role models for wealthy ladies and nuns. As a pair, they signified the active and contemplative life; they also functioned as patronesses of a blissful death. The falcon on the arm is a motif seldom encountered, perhaps indicating the miniature altarpiece was made for a noblewoman, as falcon hunting was a privilege reserved for the nobility.10 The closed wings show St Christopher, patron saint of travellers, and St George, protector of knights and other military figures, including archers. St John the Evangelist stands in a niche in the altar’s ‘predella’: a reference to the Book of Revelation, in which he describes the Virgin’s appearance as the Woman of the Apocalypse, surrounded by the rays of the sun and standing on a crescent moon (Book of Revelation 12:1). This bottom section of the altar contains a compartment – meant to hold a relic, most likely of one of the saints depicted11 – that can be opened from the back via two small doors. In front, two windows filled with an openwork lozenge pattern flank the figure of John on either side.
Two known variants of this miniature altarpiece feature the Virgin in sole, both attributable to Adam Dircksz. The first altarpiece, today preserved in Portugal, is virtually identical to the Amsterdam triptych.12 Notable differences are the more austere execution (e.g. with representations lacking on the wings’ exteriors), differing inscriptions, St John seated versus standing in the bottom section, and the presence of a sliding door on the reverse of the reliquary compartment. The second variant, surprisingly enough, is half the size of the Rijksmuseum altar. The two small wings in the predella of this miniature altarpiece, held in the Wyvern Collection (London), flank a scene of the Resurrection. It has no reliquary compartment.13 In the case of both altars, two hovering angels still hold Mary’s crown – figures missing from the Amsterdam piece. In essence, all three altars are compact renditions of large church altarpieces executed in the late-gothic style. Nevertheless, the influence of the Renaissance can clearly be discerned in the shell-shaped niches framing St John and the Virgin.
Frits Scholten, 2024
Literature
Catalogus der tentoonstelling van voor Nederland belangrijke oudheden en merkwaardigheden in de stad en provincie Utrecht voorhanden…, exh. cat. Utrecht (Gebouw voor Kunsten en Wetenschappen) 1857, p. 16 and no. 39; J.J.M. Timmers, ‘Achtenveertig eeuwen beeldhouwkunst in hout’, in W. Boerhave Beekman, Hout in alle tijden, Deventer 1949, pp. 598-772, esp. pp. 726-727 and fig. 12.108; D.P.R.A. Bouvy, Beeldhouwkunst van de Middeleeuwen tot heden: Uit het Aartsbisschoppelijk Museum te Utrecht, coll. cat. Utrecht 1962, no. 93; S.J. Romanelli, South Netherlandish Boxwood Devotional Sculpture, 1475-1530, 1992 (diss., Columbia University), no. 9; F. Scholten and R. Falkenburg, A Sense of Heaven: 16th Century Boxwood Carvings for Private Devotion, exh. cat. Leeds (The Henry Moore Institute) 1999, no. 5; M. van Vlierden et al., Hout- en steensculptuur van Museum Catharijneconvent, ca. 1200-1600, coll. cat. Utrecht 2004, pp. 272-75; F. Scholten, ‘A Prayer Nut in a Silver Housing by “Adam Dirckz”’, The Rijksmuseum Bulletin 59 (2011), pp. 323-47, esp. p. 331, fig. 12; F. Scholten (ed.), Small Wonders: Late-Gothic Boxwood Micro-Carvings from the Low Countries, exh. cat. Toronto (Art Gallery of Ontario)/New York (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cloisters)/Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 2016-17, no. 48, and fig. 10; P. Dandridge and L. Ellis, ‘Workshop practices’, in F. Scholten (ed.), Small Wonders: Late-Gothic Boxwood Micro-Carvings from the Low Countries, exh. cat. Toronto (Art Gallery of Ontario)/New York (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cloisters)/Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 2016-17, pp. 514-77, esp. pp. 570-73
Citation
F. Scholten, 2024, 'workshop of Adam Dircksz or , Triptych with St Christopher, St George, St Barbara, The Virgin in Sole, St Catherine and St John the Evangelist, Northern Netherlands or Delft, c. 1500 - c. 1530', in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200410222
(accessed 10 December 2025 18:54:18).