Object data
walnut with remnants of polychromy
height 90 cm × width 28 cm × depth 18 cm
Master of Koudewater (follower of)
St James the Less (?)
Northern Brabant, c. 1470 - c. 1500
Technical notes
Carved and originally fully polychromed. The reverse is slightly worked and contains a large iron fitting with an eye, possibly an old hinge, which was applied as a mechanism for attachment.
Condition
The statue displays woodworm damage in places. The book has been slightly recarved. The book’s diamond-shaped ornaments and lily-shaped clasps, the attribute in the right hand (club?) and a piece of the base are missing. The flesh tones of the face have been largely preserved; the rest of the polychromy is mostly missing.
Provenance
? Commissioned by the Bridgettine abbey Mariënwater, Koudewater, near Rosmalen, c. 1470-1500;1 ? transferred to the Bridgettine convent Maria Refugie, Uden, 1713-24;2 from where, with numerous other sculptures (BK-NM-1195 to -1243), fl. 2,000 for all, to the Nederlandsch Museum voor Geschiedenis en Kunst, The Hague, 1875; transferred to the museum, 1885; on loan to the Museum Krona (formerly known as the Museum voor Religieuze Kunst), Uden, inv. no. 0013, since 1973
Object number: BK-NM-1198
Copyright: Public domain
The artist
Master of Koudewater (active in northern Brabant c. 1460-80)
The name of convenience ‘Master of Koudewater’ was introduced by Leeuwenberg in 1958 to define the production of a sculptor active in the period 1460-80, whose oeuvre chiefly comprises carved wooden statues of saints formerly originating from two Bridgettine abbeys. The first one, Mariënwater, was located in the northern Brabantine village of Koudewater. In 1460, this ‘mother abbey’ founded a second abbey in the vicinity of Cleves, called Marienbaum. When evicted from their abbey in 1713, the Bridgettine nuns at Mariënwater moved to a convent in the vicinity of Uden, together with all of their possessions. In 1802, when the abbey at Marienbaum was dissolved, a portion of its inventory was likewise transferred to Uden. Facing financial difficulty, the Bridgettine nuns at Uden were ultimately forced to sell off the bulk of their art holdings. In 1875, a large number of saintly statues carved by the Master of Koudewater and followers of his style were subsequently acquired en bloc by the Museum voor Geschiedenis en Kunst, a forerunner of the Rijksmuseum.
There are strong indications that the Master of Koudewater produced statues for both Mariënwater and Marienbaum. Collectively, these works – together with other similar figures produced in the northern part of the Duchy of Brabant – are today known as the ‘Koudewater Group’. The Rijksmuseum holds sixteen of the Koudewater statues in its collection. Based on the shared static but elegant poses, calm facial expressions, and matching drapery schemes characterized by deeply cut folds, however, only six of these works can be securely attributed to the master himself. The remaining ten are likely to have been produced by workshop assistants, pupils or followers of the master’s style.
The centre of the Master of Koudewater’s activity was initially thought to be in the Lower Rhine region. When acknowledging the documented provenance of the works and the stylistic similarity to Brabantine sculpture, however, the northern part of the Duchy of Brabant emerges as the most likely area of production. Attempts have been made to link the master’s carving to the flourishing artistic climate in Den Bosch and even to a documented woodcarver active there, Jan Jansz van Gheervliet.3 Nevertheless, nothing in the Master of Koudewater’s oeuvre suggests a knowledge of the artistic innovation occurring in this northern Brabantine city. On the contrary, it appears he led a rather solitary life. His artistic origin must therefore be sought in monastic surroundings in or near Mariënwater.
Marie Mundigler, 2024
References
G.C.M. van Dijck, ‘De meester van Coudewater opgespoord? Een interessante theorie’, Bossche bladen 3 (2001), pp. 75-77; J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, pp. 86-94; L.C.B.M. van Liebergen, Beelden in de abdij: Middeleeuwse kunst uit het noordelijk deel van het hertogdom Brabant, exh. cat. Uden (Museum voor Religieuze Kunst) 1999, pp. 61-64; J. Leeuwenberg in R. van Luttervelt et al., Middeleeuwse kunst der Noordelijke Nederlanden, exh. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 1958, pp. 192-93; G. Lemmens and G. de Werd, Beelden uit Brabant: Laatgotische kunst uit het oude hertogdom 1400-1520, exh. cat. Den Bosch (Noordbrabants Museum) 1971, pp. 17-26; J.W. Steyaert et al., Late Gothic Sculpture: The Burgundian Netherlands, exh. cat. Ghent (Museum of Fine Arts) 1994, n. 84; W. Vogelsang, De oude kerkelijke kunst in Nederland: Gedenkboek van de Nationale Tentoonstelling te ’s-Hertogenbosch in 1913, Den Bosch 1914, p. 98
Entry
This bearded apostle holds in his left hand a book on which remnants of two cut-off diamond-shaped ornaments and a lily-shaped clasp are still visible. The lack of an attribute in his other hand hampers identification. He could be St Bartholomew,4 but it is generally assumed that he represents St James the Less, since his head type resembles that of Christ.5 In this case the apostle would have held in his right hand a fuller’s staff, the instrument of James’s martyrdom and his principal attribute.
In terms of style, the statue is connected with the Master of Koudewater, who was active in the northern part of the Duchy of Brabant. This anonymous master owes his name of convenience to the fact that most of his statues of saints presumably came from the Bridgettine abbey of Mariënwater in Koudewater, which was dissolved in 1713.6 In 1875 the museum acquired three core pieces by the master (BK-NM-1195, -1196 and -1197) – together with a large number of stylistically related statues of saints, including this St James the Less (?) – from the immediate successor to this institution, the convent of Maria Refugie in Uden.
Until 1971, when De Werd thought he recognized it as the work of the Master of Koudewater, the statue was not even considered part of this woodcarver’s oeuvre.7 De Werd saw, in particular, a relationship to the statue of St John the Evangelist (BK-NM-1197), one of the above-mentioned core pieces by this master, and pointed out the similarities between the faces and the execution of the garments covering the upper bodies of these two apostles. Because both statues are carved of walnut, are almost the same height, and have the same provenance, De Werd even thought it possible that they were pendants.8 According to Van Liebergen, who endorses the attribution to the Master of Koudewater, the statues might also have been part of the same apostle beam.9
However, given the different shapes of the bases of these statues and the differing treatment of their backs (the statue of John is hollowed out, whereas the present statue is a solid block of wood), neither of these suggestions is convincing. Moreover, it is highly doubtful that the present statue originated in the workshop of the Master of Koudewater, despite the above-mentioned stylistic parallels.10 James’s face displays a poignant, slightly frowning gaze directed upwards, which is not in keeping with the serene, downward-staring eyes seen in statues attributed to the master himself or his workshop, of which the previously mentioned statue of St John is a perfect example. Another anomalous feature is the déhanchement of the apostle discussed here, which is at odds with the static, pillar-like Koudewater statues. All things considered, this piece was most likely produced not in the workshop of the Master of Koudewater but in a workshop operating under his influence.
Bieke van der Mark, 2024
Literature
J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, no. 79, with earlier literature; L.C.B.M. van Liebergen, Birgitta van Zweden 1303-1373. 600 jaar kunst en cultuur van haar kloosterorde, Uden (Museum voor Religieuze Kunst) 1986, no. 69; A.M. Koldeweij, In Buscoducis 1450-1629: Kunst uit de Bourgondische tijd te ’s Hertogenbosch. De cultuur van de late middeleeuwen en renaissance, exh. cat. Den Bosch (Noordbrabants Museum) 1990, p. 164; L.C.B.M. van Liebergen, Beelden in de abdij. Middeleeuwse kunst uit het noordelijk deel van het hertogdom Brabant, exh. cat. Uden (Museum voor Religieuze Kunst) 1999, no. 13; K.W. Woods, Imported Images: Netherlandish Late Gothic Sculpture in England c. 1400-c. 1550, Donington 2007, p. 254
Citation
B. van der Mark, 2024, 'follower of Meester van Koudewater, St James the Less (?), Northern Brabant, c. 1470 - c. 1500', in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.24354
(accessed 23 December 2024 19:47:23).