Workshop of the Master of the Saint Bartholomew Altarpiece, 'The Virgin and Child in Glory with Saints', about 1512
About the work
Overview
In the central panel of this triptych (a painting in three parts), the Virgin Mary, surrounded by the golden rays of the sun, embraces Christ, her infant son. He holds an orb topped with a cross, a sign of his universal power, while she is crowned as Queen of Heaven by two angels.
The frame is original and includes inscriptions that help to identify the saints on the two shutters. Saint James the Great appears on the left-hand shutter while Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music, is on the right. As the shutters were designed to fold over the central panel, the outer faces were also decorated – they show a scene of the Annunciation to the Virgin.
The painting was probably used for private devotion in the home. The design means the picture could stand up on any surface without support, and could be folded up and carried or put away if necessary.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- The Virgin and Child in Glory with Saint James the Great and Saint Cecilia
- Artist
- Workshop of the Master of the Saint Bartholomew Altarpiece
- Artist dates
- active about 1470 to about 1510
- Date made
- about 1512
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 36 × 59.2 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Bought, 1984
- Inventory number
- NG6497
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Frame
- 16th-century German Frame (original frame)
Provenance
Additional information
This painting is included in a list of works with incomplete provenance from 1933–1945; for more information see Whereabouts of paintings 1933–1945.
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Susan Foister, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The German Paintings before 1800’, London 2024; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
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1986National Gallery, 'Pictures Cleaned and Restored in the Conservation Department of the National Gallery, January 1985 - December 1985', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, X, 1986
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1988National Gallery, The National Gallery Report: January 1985 - December 1987, London 1988
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1989D. Martens, 'Une Maria in sole inédite par le Maître du Retable de Saint Barthélémy', Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch, L, 1989, pp. 313-9
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1991J. Dunkerton et al., Giotto to Dürer: Early Renaissance Painting in the National Gallery, New Haven 1991
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1996D. Martens, 'Autour des retables du jubé de l'église des Chartreux de Cologne: Lumière réelle et lumière fictive dans la peinture flamande et allemande de la fin du Moyen Âge', Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch, LVII, 1996, pp. 65-100
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1997R. Billinge et al., 'Methods and Materials of Northern European Painting in the National Gallery, 1400–1550', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XVIII, 1997, pp. 6-52
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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2024S. Foister, National Gallery Catalogues: The German Paintings before 1800, 2 vols, London 2024
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.
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