Miniature Altarpiece: Virgin in the Sun

Object Name

Triptych

Artist/Maker

South Netherlandish

Object Type

Miniature Altarpiece

Date

1510-1530

Medium

boxwood

Credit Line

Rijksmuseum. On loan from Museum Catharijneconvent

Object Number

BK-BR-946-H

Location

Not currently on display

Institution/Owner

Museum Catharijneconvent

External Link

View this object on the source website

Dimensions

Overall: 180.7mm × 84.5mm × 43.8mm (18.1 × 8.5 × 4.4 cm)

Triptych reliquary corpus: Virgin of the Rosary; Interior left wing: St. Barbara standing by her tower holding a sword as a symbol of her martyrdom and an eagle (?); Interior right wing: St. Catherine stands beside a broken wheel holding a sword as a symbol of her martyrdom and a hooded falcon as a symbol of her noble birth; Exterior left wing: St. Christopher carries the Christ Child through the water; Exterior right wing: St. George stands above a vanquished dragon; reliquary compartment: St. John the Evangelist stands holding a chalice

Signature, Inscriptions, and Markings

Inscription

Carved Latin inscriptions:

Sancta barbara (left wing, interior)
Tota pulchra es amica mea. Cant. 4 (central section)
Sancta katrina (right wing, interior)

[source: Rijksmuseum catalogue]

Published References

Henk van Os et al, Netherlandish Art in the Rijksmuseum, 1400-1600 (Amsterdam: Waanders Publishers, 2000); M. Van Vlierden, Hout- en steensculptuur van Museum Catharijneconvent (Zwolle: Waanders Uitgevers, 2004, pp 272-275 ); Frits Scholten, A prayer nut in a silver housing by 'Adam Dirckz', (Amsterdam: The Rijksmuseum Bulletin, vol. 4, 2011, p. 332, fig. 12)