South Netherlandish School late 15th Century
The Presentation of Christ in the Temple
Oil on panel. 33.5 x 19.5 cm.
This small and finely painted panel depicts the Biblical scene known as the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple. The ritual, which is described in the Gospel of Luke, combines two theologically linked rites in Christian and Jewish faith, namely the circumcision of Christ and the purification of the Virgin Mary.
The main protagonists of the scene, Mary and Christ, are depicted in the foreground and beside them we see the priest Simeon in a bishop's cope and mitre. Saint Joseph is depicted on the left. Behind him is a figure dressed in a contemporary Burgundian bonnet and a man in a turban-like head covering. In the background we see fragments of a polyptych on the wall of the church, of which one panel depicts Moses with the tablets of the law, which can be regarded as a symbol of the old covenant. Thus, the figure of Christ as the founder of the new covenant forms a typological parallel to this. In the mariological interpretation, the scene signifies the Jewish law of the purification of new mothers that the Virgin complied with.
The painter has depicted the Biblical scene taking place in the side aisle of a Gothic church, and surrounds it with a gold architectural motif. This painted surround is what allowed this panel to be linked to three other paintings published by Max Friedländer in 1931 (op. Cit.). The three works also depict scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary: The Annunciation - today in the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam -, the Nativity, and Christ appearing to his mother, the latter two are housed in private collections. The present work was identified as a fourth panel from this series and would originally have formed part of a multi-panel altarpiece dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
Friedländer attributed this work to the young Jan Provost, and Grete Ring also later agreed with this ascription (op. cit.). At the time of Friedländer's publication, the Annunciation was still housed in a private collection in Berlin. However, following its acquisition by the museum in Rotterdam, the attribution to Provost was re-examined and abandoned. The piece is now attributed to an anonymous southern Dutch master of the late 15th century, who is thus also considered to be the author of the present work.
Provenance
Henry Wagner;
Anonymous sale, Christie’s, London, 16 January 1925, lot 59 (as School of Gerard David);
Sir Thomas Barlow;
Anonymous sale, Sotheby’s, London, 20 July 1955, lot 57;
H. J. Hellema, Laren.
Literature
Max J. Friedländer: Die Altniederländische Malerei, vol. IX, Berlin 1931, p. 145, no. 127 (only the other three panels);
Max J. Friedländer: Early Netherlandish Painting, vol. IXb, Leiden 1972, p. 111, no. 127, reproduced plate 149;
Grete Ring: Additions to the Work of Jan Provost and Quentin Massys, in: The Burlington Magazine, LXXIX (1941), pp. 156-160;
Monika Brieskorn, in: Ekkehard Mai (ed.): Das Kabinett des Sammlers, Cologne 1993, pp. 63-5, no. 25, reproduced (as Jan Provost);
Ron Spronk, in: Friso Lammertse (ed.): Van Eyck to Bruegel 1400 to 1550. Dutch and Flemish Painting in the Collection of the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam 1994, pp. 217-9, no. 45, pl. 218, fig. b.
Exhibitions
Manchester, Whitworth Art Gallery, June 1947, no. 3;
Flemish Art 1300-1700, London, Royal Academy, 5 December 1952 - 6 March 1953, no. 49 (with the Annunciation, as Jan Provost);
Schaffhausen, Museum zu Allerheiligen, 1955, no. 76;
Laren, Singer Museum, July 1961, no. 104;
Kassel, Staatliche Museen, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, inv. no. 1101 (on loan).