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Lot Essay
This vibrant panel representing the Virgin tenderly embracing the Christ Child in a landscape is an early work by the Master of Frankfurt, one of the foremost artists working in Antwerp in the early sixteenth century. Tentatively identified as the painter Hendrik van Wueluwe, who was active in Antwerp from 1483 until 1533, the Master of Frankfurt is named after two large paintings commissioned by patrons originating in Frankfurt: the circa 1503-06 Altarpiece of the Holy Kinship made for the city’s Dominican church (Historisches Museum, Frankfurt; inv. no. 261) and the Crucifixion Triptych (Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt; inv. no. 715) painted for the patrician Humbracht family, some members of which were residing in Antwerp by 1503. Though a suggestion has been made that the Master visited Frankfurt himself, the use of Baltic oak panels precludes his practicing there and indicates that the Frankfurt altarpieces were commissioned and produced in Antwerp, the economic and cultural center of the Netherlands during the early sixteenth century. The Master was an important proponent of the so-called ‘Antwerp Mannerist’ movement and ran a large, successful workshop. Indeed, his putative identification as de Wueluwe accords with the Master’s prominence in the city, since de Wueluwe served as Dean of the Guild of Saint Luke six times between 1495 and 1523, and is documented as having at least seven apprentices.
Here, the Master of Frankfurt has characteristically depicted the Virgin with a graceful expression. The architecture in the first phase of the underdrawing is similar to that seen the circa 1515-20 Virgin and Child in The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. The Christ Child likewise conforms compositionally to his portrayal in other works by the artist, most notably the central panel of the Altarpiece of the Holy Kinship in Frankfurt. Jesus’s legs are parted so that his genitals are displayed to the viewer to emphasize his Incarnation, as Leo Steinberg demonstrated in The Sexuality of Christ in Renaissance Art and Modern Oblivion (Chicago, 1983 ). The dual nature of Christ as both human and divine is similarly reflected in his face; the Master of Frankfurt’s contemporary viewers would have immediately recognized Jesus’s markedly adult facial features as a signifier of his divine possession of all earthly knowledge. Jesus holds a rosary made of gold and red coral, a material believed to have apotropaic properties. Reflecting the heightened importance of the cult of the Virgin, the use of rosaries had become increasingly widespread in the last quarter of the fifteenth century. The building in the background has been identified as the Bruges Poortersloge, the international trade center of Bruges and the meeting place of the Company of the White Bear, a jousting association founded in the twelfth century. The patron who commissioned this painting likely requested its inclusion here, and as such it may provide a key to discovering his identity.
As evidenced in the present painting, the Master’s early style is much indebted to Hugo van der Goes. Jan de Maere (loc. cit.) has observed that the treatment of the Virgin Mary in our painting, in particular her prominent forehead and heavy-lidded eyes, bears striking parallels with the analogous figure in the Portinari Altarpiece (Uffizi, Florence; op. cit.). This correspondence, together with similarities seen in the Master of Frankfurt’s Nativity with Shepherds of circa 1495 (Musée des Beaux Arts Valenciennes, inv. P.46.1.268) and another Nativity of circa 1500 (Kunsthalle, Hamburg), is so great that de Maere argues that the Master of Frankfurt must have actually seen the Portinari Altarpiece in Brabant before its arrival in Florence in May 1483.
Infra-red reflectography (IRR) reveals elaborate, spontaneous underdrawing executed in two phases (fig. 1). The first is in a dry medium, possibly black chalk, and delineates the architecture of a vast, classically-inspired throne complex similar to that seen in the Walters panel. This was ultimately abandoned in favor of a sweeping landscape. The Virgin’s eyes were initially drawn in at a lower level, approximately at the height of her current cheek bones. For the second phase, the artist used a thicker, apparently more greasy black chalk, blocking out the entire composition. Many of the features are shifted and do not correspond exactly with the finished painting, providing a glimpse into the Master’s creative process.
Maximiliaan P.J. Martens, following firsthand inspection of the painting, proposed the attribution to the Master of Frankfurt and dated the panel to circa 1495/6. Stephen H. Goddard also independently endorsed the attribution to the Master and places our panel in the same moment as the Antwerp Self-portrait with his wife (c. 1495/6; Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp).
Here, the Master of Frankfurt has characteristically depicted the Virgin with a graceful expression. The architecture in the first phase of the underdrawing is similar to that seen the circa 1515-20 Virgin and Child in The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. The Christ Child likewise conforms compositionally to his portrayal in other works by the artist, most notably the central panel of the Altarpiece of the Holy Kinship in Frankfurt. Jesus’s legs are parted so that his genitals are displayed to the viewer to emphasize his Incarnation, as Leo Steinberg demonstrated in The Sexuality of Christ in Renaissance Art and Modern Oblivion (Chicago, 1983 ). The dual nature of Christ as both human and divine is similarly reflected in his face; the Master of Frankfurt’s contemporary viewers would have immediately recognized Jesus’s markedly adult facial features as a signifier of his divine possession of all earthly knowledge. Jesus holds a rosary made of gold and red coral, a material believed to have apotropaic properties. Reflecting the heightened importance of the cult of the Virgin, the use of rosaries had become increasingly widespread in the last quarter of the fifteenth century. The building in the background has been identified as the Bruges Poortersloge, the international trade center of Bruges and the meeting place of the Company of the White Bear, a jousting association founded in the twelfth century. The patron who commissioned this painting likely requested its inclusion here, and as such it may provide a key to discovering his identity.
As evidenced in the present painting, the Master’s early style is much indebted to Hugo van der Goes. Jan de Maere (loc. cit.) has observed that the treatment of the Virgin Mary in our painting, in particular her prominent forehead and heavy-lidded eyes, bears striking parallels with the analogous figure in the Portinari Altarpiece (Uffizi, Florence; op. cit.). This correspondence, together with similarities seen in the Master of Frankfurt’s Nativity with Shepherds of circa 1495 (Musée des Beaux Arts Valenciennes, inv. P.46.1.268) and another Nativity of circa 1500 (Kunsthalle, Hamburg), is so great that de Maere argues that the Master of Frankfurt must have actually seen the Portinari Altarpiece in Brabant before its arrival in Florence in May 1483.
Infra-red reflectography (IRR) reveals elaborate, spontaneous underdrawing executed in two phases (fig. 1). The first is in a dry medium, possibly black chalk, and delineates the architecture of a vast, classically-inspired throne complex similar to that seen in the Walters panel. This was ultimately abandoned in favor of a sweeping landscape. The Virgin’s eyes were initially drawn in at a lower level, approximately at the height of her current cheek bones. For the second phase, the artist used a thicker, apparently more greasy black chalk, blocking out the entire composition. Many of the features are shifted and do not correspond exactly with the finished painting, providing a glimpse into the Master’s creative process.
Maximiliaan P.J. Martens, following firsthand inspection of the painting, proposed the attribution to the Master of Frankfurt and dated the panel to circa 1495/6. Stephen H. Goddard also independently endorsed the attribution to the Master and places our panel in the same moment as the Antwerp Self-portrait with his wife (c. 1495/6; Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp).