Object data
oak with traces of polychromy
height 47 cm × width 24.5 cm × depth 11 cm
Master of Joachim and Anne, Master of Joachim and Anne
The Meeting of Joachim and Anne
? Northwest Brabant, c. 1470
Technical notes
Carved and originally polychromed. The reverse is virtually flat. Dendrochronological analysis as pointed out that the outermost growth ring in the wood block dates to the year 1292. Due to the absence of sapwood it is not possible to give a more specific estimate felling date of the tree than ‘after 1300’. Given the early date of the outermost ring, the block of wood from which the sculpture is carved seems to correspond to the inner portion of the stem. This implies that there could be another 15-20 cm (or more) of wood missing towards the bark, and thus many more rings. Consequently, a production time around 1470 is plausible in spite of the early date. The timber originates from the northwest of Germany.
Scientific examination and reports
- dendrochronology: M. Domínguez Delmás (DendroResearch), RMA, DR_R2023030, 25 August 2023
Condition
The polychromy has been removed with a caustic; traces remain in a few areas. The ground is crumbling. The toes of both shoes and the fold at the bottom of Joachim’s cloak are missing. There is a groove-shaped area of damage at the level of his left thigh.
Provenance
...; collection David van der Kellen Jr (1804-1879), Amsterdam;1 by whom sent to Paris (Drouot) for auction with the entire collection but purchased en bloc before the sale by the Nederlandsch Museum voor Geschiedenis en Kunst, 1873;2 transferred to The Hague, 1875; transferred to the museum, 1885
Object number: BK-NM-88
Copyright: Public domain
The artist
Master of Joachim and Anne (active in ? Breda c. 1460-80)
It was Vogelsang who in 1906 assigned a name of convenience to works attributed to the Master of Joachim and Anne based on his best-known surviving work, entitled the Meeting of Joachim and Anne (BK-NM-88). At this time, this altar group was stylistically linked to a Birth of the Virgin in the Bode-Museum in Berlin, believed most likely to have originated from the same altarpiece,3 and to a large standing statue of the Virgin and Child formerly in the Stuyt Collection (BK-2016-13). The latter two works are dated circa 1470. Since their first publication in 1865, the Master of Joachim and Anne has been regarded as one of the leading representatives of the late-Gothic ‘Holland School’ of sculpture. On the basis of his highly personal, restrained style and the intimate character of his works – associated with the style of the Haarlem painter Dieric Bouts (1410-1475) – the master was situated in the Northern Netherlands and specifically in the County of Holland or the city of Utrecht. In light of stylistic similarities to Brabantine sculpture and the west-Brabantine provenance of some of his works – most notably the large standing Virgin and Child and the group in Berlin – it appears more likely that he worked in the Duchy of Brabant, possibly in or near Breda. Two other works tentatively attributed to the master’s oeuvre are said to have come from churches in Breda, namely a Virgin and Child in a Bed and a Christ Carrying the Cross.4 Another hypothesis raised is that the Master of Joachim and Anne spent time as a journeyman in southern Germany, notably in Ulm, though this theory has gained no general support.
Based on more generic stylistic parallels to the core group of works, two other sculptures in the Rijksmuseum have previously been attributed to the Master of Joachim and Anne: a Virgin and Child with St Anne (BK-NM-8974) and a Lamentation (BK-NM-12389). With respect to the latter group, however, convincing arguments have been posed in favour of an attribution to Master Tilman (active c. 1475-1515) in Cologne.
Marie Mundigler, 2024
References
D.P.R.A. Bouvy, Middeleeuwsche beeldhouwkunst in de Noordelijke Nederlanden, Amsterdam 1947, p. 79; J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, pp. 74-77; J. Leeuwenberg in R. van Luttervelt et al., Middeleeuwse kunst der Noordelijke Nederlanden, exh. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 1958, pp. 190-92; A. Schneckenburger-Broschek, ‘Ein Niederländer als schwäbisches Genie. Neues zum Ulmer Chorgestühl’, Zeitschrift des deutschen Vereins für Kunstwissenschaft 40 (1986), 1-4, pp. 40-68; J.J.M. Timmers, Houten beelden: De houtsculptuur in de Noordelijke Nederlanden tijdens de late middeleeuwen, Amsterdam/Antwerp 1949, p. 59; W. Vogelsang, ‘De Nederlandsche beeldhouwkunst’, Elsevier’s Geïllustreerd Maandschrift 31 (1906), pp. 366-80
Entry
The group depicts the meeting of Joachim and Anne by the Golden Gate in Jerusalem, regarded in the Middle Ages as the moment of Mary’s immaculate conception. This fragment was probably part of an altarpiece dedicated to the Life of the Virgin Mary, Anne’s daughter. Since 1906 the anonymous woodcarver has been known by the ad hoc name Master of Joachim and Anne (active c. 1460-80), based on this group.5 His oeuvre also includes a fragment depicting The Birth of the Virgin in the Bode-Museum in Berlin (fig. a),6 which is virtually the same size and stylistically very similar to The Meeting of Joachim and Anne. The piece probably comes from the same Marian altarpiece. On the basis of their anecdotal aspects, among other things, the altar fragments have to be dated to around 1470.7 In view of its size and the fact that it is freely carved all round, a large standing Virgin and Child (BK-2016-13) by the same maker in the Rijksmuseum collection is unlikely to have been part of this altarpiece.
The Master of Joachim and Anne was long regarded as one of the leading sculptors of the Northern Netherlands, working in Holland or Utrecht. His restrained, sophisticated and penetrating technique was seen as typically northern and associated with the work of the Haarlem painter Dieric Bouts (c. 1420/20-1475).8 In recent years, however, more convincing parallels have been found with Southern Netherlandish painting and sculpture, including the painting of Jan van Eyck (1370-1441) and Rogier van der Weyden (1399-1464) and the bronze weepers made for Isabella of Bourbon’s tomb (BK-AM-33). Given the provenance of his statuary groups, the Master of Joachim and Anne can now be placed with greater certainty in the northwest of the Duchy of Brabant, possibly more precisely in the important town of Breda.9
In 1986 Schneckenburger-Broschek published a remarkable hypothesis to the effect that later in life the Master of Joachim and Anne worked for some time as an itinerant artist in Southern Germany.10 She believed she could recognize his hand in the wall busts in the famous choir stalls in Ulm (1469-1474). In 2002, however, the style parallels were convincingly refuted by Miller. He returned to the attribution of the busts to Michel Erhart, who was demonstrably present in Ulm and had been recognized as the undisputed maker of the choir stalls since Otto’s attribution in 1943.11
Bieke van der Mark, 2024
Literature
A. Pit, Catalogus van de beeldhouwwerken in het Nederlandsch Museum voor Geschiedenis en Kunst te Amsterdam, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1904, p. 434; W. Vogelsang, ‘Beeldhouwkunst’, in F.W.S. van Thienen (ed.), Algemene Kunstgeschiedenis, vol. 4, Utrecht/Antwerp 1949, p. 26; D.P.R.A. Bouvy, ‘Nederlandse beeldhouwkunst’, in T.H. Lunsingh Scheurleer, Sprekend verleden. Wegwijzer voor de verzamelaar van oude kunst en antiek, Amsterdam 1959, p. 54; J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, no. 43, with earlier literature; A. Schneckenburger-Broschek, ‘Ein Niederländer als schwäbisches Genie. Neues zum Ulmer Chorgestühl’, Zeitschrift des deutschen Vereins für Kunstgeschichte 40 (1986), no. 1/4, pp. 40-68, esp. pp. 44-68; T. Brandenburg et al., Heilige Anna, grote moeder. De cultus van de Heilige Moeder Anna en haar familie in de Nederlanden en aangrenzende streken, exh. cat. Uden (Museum voor Religieuze Kunst) 1992, no. 18; V.M. Schmidt, ‘Een beeld van verbrokkeling. Onderzoek naar laatgotische en renaissance beeldhouwkunst in Nederlands sinds 1945’, Nederlands kunsthistorisch jaarboek 45 (1994), pp. 9-37, p. 28; F. Scholten in H. van Os et al., Nederlandse Kunst in het Rijksmuseum 1400-1600, Amsterdam/Zwolle 2000, no. 8; B. Kruijsen, Verzamelen van middeleeuwse kunst in Nederland 1830-1903, Nijmegen 2002, no. 34; F. Scholten and G. de Werd, Een hogere werkelijkheid: Duitse en Franse beeldhouwkunst 1200-1600 uit het Rijksmuseum Amsterdam/Eine höhere Wirklichkeit, Deutsche und Französische Skulptur 1200-1600 aus dem Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, exh. cat. Cleves (Museum Kurhaus Kleve) 2004-06, p. 8, fig. 2; K.W. Woods, Imported Images: Netherlandish Late Gothic Sculpture in England c. 1400-c. 1550, Donington 2007, p. 81; Scholten and Van der Mark in F. Scholten (ed.), 1100-1600, Amsterdam 2015, no. 22b A. Pit, Catalogus van de beeldhouwwerken in het Nederlandsch Museum voor Geschiedenis en Kunst te Amsterdam, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1904, p. 434; W. Vogelsang, ‘Beeldhouwkunst’, in F.W.S. van Thienen (ed.), Algemene Kunstgeschiedenis, vol. 4, Utrecht/Antwerp 1949, p. 26; D.P.R.A. Bouvy, ‘Nederlandse beeldhouwkunst’, in T.H. Lunsingh Scheurleer, Sprekend verleden. Wegwijzer voor de verzamelaar van oude kunst en antiek, Amsterdam 1959, p. 54; J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, no. 43, with earlier literature; A. Schneckenburger-Broschek, ‘Ein Niederländer als schwäbisches Genie. Neues zum Ulmer Chorgestühl’, Zeitschrift des deutschen Vereins für Kunstgeschichte 40 (1986), no. 1/4, pp. 40-68, esp. pp. 44-68; T. Brandenburg et al., Heilige Anna, grote moeder. De cultus van de Heilige Moeder Anna en haar familie in de Nederlanden en aangrenzende streken, exh. cat. Uden (Museum voor Religieuze Kunst) 1992, no. 18; V.M. Schmidt, ‘Een beeld van verbrokkeling. Onderzoek naar laatgotische en renaissance beeldhouwkunst in Nederlands sinds 1945’, Nederlands kunsthistorisch jaarboek 45 (1994), pp. 9-37, p. 28; F. Scholten in H. van Os et al., Nederlandse Kunst in het Rijksmuseum 1400-1600, Amsterdam/Zwolle 2000, no. 8; B. Kruijsen, Verzamelen van middeleeuwse kunst in Nederland 1830-1903, Nijmegen 2002, no. 34; F. Scholten and G. de Werd, Een hogere werkelijkheid: Duitse en Franse beeldhouwkunst 1200-1600 uit het Rijksmuseum Amsterdam/Eine höhere Wirklichkeit, Deutsche und Französische Skulptur 1200-1600 aus dem Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, exh. cat. Cleves (Museum Kurhaus Kleve) 2004-06, p. 8, fig. 2; K.W. Woods, Imported Images: Netherlandish Late Gothic Sculpture in England c. 1400-c. 1550, Donington 2007, p. 81; Scholten and Van der Mark in F. Scholten (ed.), 1100-1600, Amsterdam 2015, no. 22b
Citation
B. van der Mark, 2024, ' or Meester van Joachim en Anna or Meester van Joachim en Anna, The Meeting of Joachim and Anne, Northwest Brabant, c. 1470', in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.24311
(accessed 10 November 2024 00:07:18).