This is one of the nine roof bosses that almost certainly originally decorated the vault of the library on the north side of Utrecht Cathedral. Three more bosses from this series, showing the other symbols of the evangelists, were also given to the museum by Sebastian Pugin in 1945 (A.15 to A.17-1945), and the decorative scheme was completed by bosses of the Virgin and Child or God the Father (now lost) and the four Fathers of the Church. Three of these - St Augustine, St Jerome and St Gregory the Great - remain in Utrecht at the Centraal Museum.
Jan van Schayck was one of the principal sculptors working in Utrecht around 1500, and records show that he carried out several commissions in the cathedral there. One of these was to carve 'the bosses and capitals with half-figures in the library', for which he was paid in 1497, and the documentary evidence coupled with the material remains leave little room for doubt that the bosses now in London and Utrecht are his work. The records also indicate that the sculptures were painted, as was customary, by two other specialists, Ernst van Schayck and Dirck Scay.
Physical description
Roundel carved with an angel, the symbol of the Evangelist St Matthew. The figure has shoulder length curls and a tunic secured by straps which cross on the chest and pass over each shoulder. The hands are lifted to support a flowing scroll which would have bourne an identifying inscription but has been heavily abraided.
The back is flat with two iron rings, one above another, to secure the object to a wall. Originally polychromed and gilded, the relief have been covered with later overpaint, primarily with with a thickly applied layer of red around the edges.
Place of Origin
Utrecht, Netherlands (made)
Date
ca. 1497 (made)
Artist/maker
Schayck, Jan van (sculptor)
Materials and Techniques
Carved sandstone, painted and gilded
Dimensions
Diameter: 33.2 cm, Depth: 10 cm
Object history note
This boss, with three others also in the Victoria and Albert Museum and theree others in the Centraal Museum in Utrecht - originally decorated the vault of the library on the north-east side of Utrecht Cathedral. The carving of this boss is fortunately fully documented as the work of Utrecht sculptor Jan Van Schayk, described in the accounts as a beeldenssnidjer, who was paid 16 guilders in 1497 for "die sloestyn ende capitelen mit halfbeelden te maken in die librieen" (the bosses and capitals with half figures he made in the library). The painting of the sculptures was executed by Ernst van Schayck and Dirck Scay.
The sculptures remained in Utrecht Cathedral, probably until the beginning of the 19th century; they then entered the collection of the lawyer and archivist Petrus van Musschenbroek (1764-1823) Utrecht, until 1826; Musschenbroek collection sale, Leiden,1826: Collection of A.W.N. Pugin (1812-1852) and thence by descent to his grandson Sebastian Pugin Powell (1866-1947); given to the Victoria and Albert Museum by Sebastian Pugin Powell in 1945.
Historical context note
The other bosses in the collection of the V&A complete the set of the Evangelists with the emblems of Mark Luke and John. The bosses in the Centraal Museum in Utrecht show half length figures of St Augustine, St Jerome and St Gregory the Great. The ensemble would have been completed by the fourth father of the church St Ambrose (now lost) and probably by a larger boss God the Father blessing now in the Rijksmuseum Het Catharijneconvent in Utrecht, which would have been placed in the centre of the vault. Such an iconographic programme would have been eminently suitable for the decoration of a library, reminding those below of the writings in the four Gospels and the achievements of the four great scholars of the early church, and a virtually identical programme - but this time with a boss of the Virgin and Child at the centre - is also seen in the treasury of Cologne cathedral, which was originally a library.
Descriptive line
Roof boss, emblem of St Matthew, Utrecht.
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Williamson, Paul, ed. European Sculpture at the Victoria and Albert Museum. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1996. 191p., ill. ISBN 1851771883.
Williamson, Paul Netherlandish Sculpture 1450-1550. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 2002 p44
Williamson, P, 'Roof Bosses from Utrecht and Jan Van Schayck, Beeldensnijder', Oud Holland CV, 1991, p. 140-51.
Exhibition History
Pugin: A Gothic Passion (Victoria and Albert Museum 15/06/1994-11/09/1994)
Associated names
Matthew
Materials
Sandstone
Techniques
Carving
Subjects depicted
Christianity; Angel; Symbols
Categories
Sculpture
Collection code
SCP
