Relief, limewood, The Virgin Mary, St. John the Evangelist and St. Mary Magdalene, Saxony, 1510-1520

The present group is a fragment of a crucifixion scene. The fainting Virgin is supported by St John, while Mary Magdalene is embracing the cross. The fainting Virgin is depicted nearly frontally. She leans back, her knees almost touching the ground. A mantle is draped over her gown, her head covered by a veil and a wimple. St John stands behind her, holding her under the armpit, his head slightly turned to the left. His cloak billows out to his right. The kneeling Mary Magdalene is shown from the side looking upwards, embracing the cross with her left arm.The group is carved from three pieces of wood, seen most clearly at the back. (fig*) Two vertical joins run down from St John's right shoulder and from St Mary Magdalene's left shoulder to the bottom edge. The join between the left hand and central section is reinforced on the back by two iron bands.The central piece shows signs of former worm infestation; while the pieces at the sides do not. Additional drill holes are visible on the back. St Mary Magdalene's chin and the tip of her nose have been added, and her right hand and half of her right breast are sawn off. The thumb, the index finger and part of the middle finger of the Virgin's right hand are missing. The base was originally green and is now overpainted in brown. The cloaks of all three figures are gilded, with a red lining (St John), blue lining with gilded stars cut out from paper and glued to the surface (the Virgin) and blue lining (St Mary Magdalene). The Virgin and St Mary Magdalene wear cream-coloured gowns with a scroll-like flowing pattern in black or dark-brown of which only traces exist. St John's robe, which was originally silvered and glazed with green, has been overpainted in green with a re-gilded border at the neck. The faces are a natural flesh colour, although some areas of the Virgin's and Mary Magdalene's faces are heavily restored. The Virgin's wimple, and the veil worn by Mary Magdalene show oxidised glazed silver leaf. The shoes are painted black. An examination of the polychromy in 1982-3 by Diana Heath of the Conservation Department revealed that the group was restored in the nineteenth century and that "the restorers were able to simulate the totally convincing aged appearance and the creation of the fine craquelure which appears uniformly all over the painted and gilded surface." (unpublished report held in the Department). The disparity in the handling of the drapery between the central and the side pieces - for instance the soft uncertain folds below the Virgin's right hand compared with the sharply carved folds on Mary Magdalene's mantle, together with the fact that the two sides do not show any worm infestation- suggest that the latter were added in the nineteenth century (see below).

Historical significance: The relief was restored by the sculptor-restorer Otto Entres of Munich in about 1850-60 (see p.*); he must have added the two sides and most of the polychromy before it was bought by the Museum as German, fifteenth century (Departmental records). Mina Voegelen (1923, pp. 126-9) suggested a Swabian origin under Netherlandish influence, whereas Victor Curt Habicht (1930, p. 104) associated it with the Master of the High Altar in the church of St John in Osnabrück. Justus Bier saw possible connections with Gregor Erhart; and Hellmuth Bethe pointed out that the group could probably be ascribed to Peter Breuer of Zwickau (Departmental records). Baxandall (1974, p. 50, no.11) went on to investigate analogies with works of Peter Breuer, a journeyman in Riemenschneider's workshop in 1492 who established his own workshop in Zwickau in 1502; Baxandall hesitated to ascribe it to Breuer, but suggested an origin in Zwickau. A Pietà in the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg exhibits similar drapery and facial types (Rasmussen 1970, pp. 29-32). Rasmussen suggested an origin in Saxony, probably Halle, for the Pietà, and noted the influence of Riemenschneider; this then might also be the place of origin for the present piece.

Side pieces made 1850-1860

This relief was part of an altarpiece that stood on or behind the altar in a Christian church. It represents Christ's mother, Mary Magdalene and St John lamenting at the foot of the Cross on which Christ is being crucified. The damaged piece was restored by the sculptor-restorer Otto Entres of Munich in about 1850 to 1860. He probably added the left and right sides and most of the colours.

The relief was probably made in the town of Halle, in the German province of Saxony, under the influence of the master sculptor Tilman Riemenschneider (died 1531).

50-1864