Gothic boxwood miniature

"Prayer Bead with the Adoration of the Magi and the Crucifixion", height (open): 11.2cm, South Netherlandish. 500–1510. The Cloisters, New York
"Half of a Prayer Bead with the Lamentation", Netherlandish, early 16th century. Metropolitan Museum of Art

Gothic boxwood miniatures are very small carved wood religious sculptures produced during the 15th and 16th centuries in today's Belgium.[1] They consist of highly intricate layers of Gothic reliefs, often rendered to a near microscopic level. They were made from boxwood, which has a fine grain and high density suited to such detailed micro carvings. The majority are spherical prayer nuts (rosary beads; the English term comes from the equivalent German term gebedsnoot),[2] or pendants, statuettes, skulls, and coffins. Many were designed so they could be held in the palm of a hand and for personal devotion, or hung from necklaces and belts as fashionable accessories,[3] while others are standalone triptych altarpieces or statutes.

These objects were highly prized in the early sixteenth century, and their iconography can be linked to contemporary panel painting, sculpture, woodcut engravings, and triptych altarpieces. They often contain imagery form the life of Mary, the crucifixion, and vistas of heaven and hell. Each object's production required exceptional craftsmanship, and some may have taken decades of cumulative work to complete, indicating that they were commissioned by members of the high nobility.

There are around 150 surviving examples; some 20 miniatures are in the form of multi-panel triptychs, diptychs or tabernacles. Most of them might have come from a workshop[4] led by Adam Dircksz, which is thought to have produced dozens of miniatures. Almost nothing is known about Dircksz, outside of a Latin signature on a single work now held in Copenhagen, and little is known of the artists or craftsmen who produced the miniatures. Some of the original owners can be identified from markings, usually, initials or coats of arms, left by the sculptors.[5] Important collections are in the Art Gallery of Ontario, in the British Museum as part of the Waddesdon Bequest, and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.[6] However, due to their rarity, as well as the difficulty of discerning their true intricacy from reproductions, the objects are relatively understudied.

Production

"Miniature Altarpiece with the Crucifixion", "Crucifixion", early 16th century. The Cloisters, New York

Boxwood is a hardwood with fine grain and high density, and it is resistant to splitting and chipping—all ideal characteristics for wood carving, although its application is limited by the small size of available wood pieces.[7][8] In the 16th century, boxwood was used for woodblock printing and woodcut blocks. It was especially suitable for miniature wood carvings, as it gives an "evenly soft and tactile surface when polished."[9] In some instances, boxwood miniatures were lined with or encased in silver.

The designs were overseen by master craftsmen who must have had access to prints and woodcuts of contemporary works of art, and who seem to have been influenced by diptych and triptych panel paintings.[10] The tools used in production were similar to those used in the production of larger altarpieces and would have included rip and crosscut saws, planes and card scrapers (to smooth out the markings left by the saws), chisels, augers, braces and gimlets. The wood was at first cut into the required dimensions as blocks, after which the joins were carved out. The next step was to establish the surface plane onto which the final reliefs would be added. These would have been created from multiple separate wood or gossamer sheets, individually produced before being overlaid onto one another and joined in layers.[7]

Miniature altar, height: 9.3cm, boxwood and silver, c. 1500-20, Netherlandish. Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Because of their diminutive scale, the pieces were difficult to hold in place (brace) during their shaping and cutting. They were likely positioned on a bench, between two posts, so that they could be turned 360 degrees. The major figures, usually saints, were carved from single blocks of wood. Completed components were then pinned and glued onto prefixed niches within the overall object.[11] A fine example of this layering technique is in the Prayer bead (AGO 29365) in the Art Gallery of Ontario, where minuscule, individually carved, pointed rods suggesting rays of light were added to the vaulted ceiling via tiny drilled holes.[12]

The polyptychs were composed of similar horizontal, landscape formats, usually from a single block of wood with its components hinged together. The triptychs generally followed the format of their larger scale counterparts, consisting of a central panel with major saints (the corpus) with two ancillary wings.[13] The depth of the reliefs differed dramatically, with the best examples including figures placed in domed spaces drilled or carved out by the artists, features that in some instances included Gothic windows and ribbed vaultings.[13]

The tracery of the prayer nuts can be categorised into three very different styles. In both, the spherical domes are divided, using compasses and a straightedge, into six or eight pie-shaped segments, or in some cases, into twelve or sixteen parts. One discernible style super-imposes intersecting circles around the reserved circle at the head of domes. In the second style, small circles were used to punctuate and divide the spherical dome into segments. The third method was a combination of the first two, but far more complex, and used the arcs of the circles to link the first style’s looping circles with the second style’s repeating patterns. Yet all of the works are similar in proportion, circumference and the size of the hinge and clasps.[14]

The level of detail indicates the use of magnification, probably with the same instruments used by contemporary jewelers.[15] Describing these intricacies, art historian Eve Kahn writes that the works can be so rich that "individual feathers are visible on angel wings, and dragon skins are textured with thick scales. Crumbling shacks are shown with shingles missing from their gabled roofs. Saints’ robes and soldiers’ uniforms are trimmed with buttons and embroidery, and there are nearly microscopic representations of jewelry and rosary beads."[9]

Attribution and dating

"Prayer Bead in the Form of a Skull" (interior: The Entry into Jerusalem and the Carrying of the Cross), c. 1515. H: 5.8cm. Art Gallery of Ontario

Art historians Lisa Ellis and Alexandra Suda estimate that the more complex boxwood miniature may have taken decades of work to complete, a period equivalent to the entire career of a medieval master carver.[16] Production would have been organised across a number workshops, each of which contained specialised craftsmen.[17] Because the pieces were so complex, there was probably only a small number of workshops involved in their production.[18] In addition, due to this high degree of artistry, art historians presume they were intended as luxury items and status symbols for a high born and sophisticated European elite;[19] Henry VIII of England and Catherine of Aragon,[20] Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI[21] and Albert V of Bavaria,[22] are known to have owned individual boxwood miniatures.[9] Most surviving boxwood miniatures are attributed to Northern Renaissance craftsmen working in the Burgundian and Habsburg Netherlands during the 15th and 16th centuries.[23] There are examples from Italy, although according to Wilhelm Bode, "The broad monumental tendency of Italian art, especially in sculpture, seems to exclude a taste for daintily executed small works".[24] German examples include a carving encased in a miniature skull, now in the Art Gallery of Ontario, containing branchwork (Astwerk) of a type often found in contemporary German sculpture.[25]

Art historian Jaap Leeuwenberg first noted that a majority of the objects share technical, stylistic and thematic similarities, and could be considered as a near homogeneous group.[26] Such stylistic traits include broad and densely populated animated scenes, often placed in the words of art historian William Wixom, on "steeply angled ground planes of tiled floors".[27] Other shared features include various spatial devices, figures in contemporary dress, and draperies are arranged in angular folds.[27]

Prayer Nut with case (open), c. 1500-30. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Because of these shared characteristics, many art historians have speculated that the production of a majority of the pieces was overseen by a single master. The sculptor and medalist Adam Dircksz,[28] about who almost nothing is known, was first attributed person by the art historian Jaap Leeuwenberg.[29] Dircksz may have lead a workshop in the southern Netherlands, possibly at Delft or Brabant,[30] given that Flemish inscriptions appear on some of the carvings,[27] and that, apart from Henry VIII and Catherine, all of the original owners come from the Netherlands.[31] Dircksz is through to have been active between 1500 and 1530, and may have produced some 60 of the surviving examples.[32] He is identified through a signature on a prayer nut now in the Statens Museum Copenhagen, reading "Adam Theodrici me fecit" (Adam Dircksz has made me).[33] The Latin name "Adam Theodrici" may be translated to English as "Adam of Theodoric", but the Dutch version of his name, Adam Dircksz, is usually used by art historians.[26][34]

Only one object is dated; a triptych in the British Museum inscribed from 1511.[27] A minority contain plates of arms or other markings that might indicate origin or the source of commission. A carving in the Musée de Cluny, Paris, contains the letter "M", and must have been completed before the 1524 inventory of Margaret of Austria. Approximate dates for other examples can be inferred from the inventories of their owners.[35] The rosary bead owned by Henry V III must have been produced between his marriage to Catherine in 1509 and his earliest efforts to separate from her in 1526.[27]

Iconography

The miniatures are similar in style to larger scale contemporary artworks, especially panel paintings, and altarpieces and sculpture, and would have been conceived with similar religious outlook and conviction. Their iconography derives both from biblical scenes, with expansive depictions of the Crucifixion, and was, at times, influenced by contemporary literature.[21] The objects' dramatic and incongruous impact, being both tiny and expansive at the same time, are particularly suited to depictions of Heaven and Hell.[36] According to art historian Lynn Jacobs, given that the objects were intended for private, secular prayer, the detailed descriptions of church enclosures, with their Gothic architectural forms, were probably intended to evoke church setting.[37]

The miniatures tend to mix Old and New Testament scenes.[38]

Formats

"Miniature Coffin" (detail). Netherlandish, early 16th century. The Cloisters, New York
"Miniature Altarpiece with the Crucifixion", early 16th century. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

The Metropolitan Museum of Art broadly categorises boxwood miniatures into two groups, those with simple reliefs, and those with a complex design.[39] A majority of the surviving examples are single prayer beads, often with extravagant combinations of carving, tracery and inscriptions on the outer shells. They often take the form of two hemispheres joined by a girdle with hinges and clasps, with the interiors hollowed out to make way for elaborate carvings.[40]

Due to the commonality of their raw material and production techniques, the objects would all have had a similar coloring, however, this has diverged over the centuries, given various storage and handling methods, as well as very different restorations and coating applications.[14]

Prayer beads

The rosary beads are mostly around the same size so that they fit into a hand, and were intended to be held during private veneration.[41] The beads were built from turned wood,[42] made on a lathe turned by a bow. The woodcutters drilled a single block of boxwood into a sphere, which they then cut in half, hollowed out and attached a fastening hinge, and carrying loops. The carvings in the interiors were typically built separately from the smaller hemispheres and later fitted onto an outer shell.[22] In some instances they are placed in silver housing.[43]

"Half of a Prayer Bead with the Crucifixion", Netherlandish, early 16th century. 5.7 × 6.8 × 3.6cm

The reliefs are typically bound with pegs, which can be either functional and obviously visible, or implanted into the form of a relief.[44] The shells are often decorated with carved Gothic openwork tracery and flower-heads, with spaces behind. According to art historian Frits Scholten, the tracery may have been intended to suggest that the object contained a small relic, "so that the object took on the character of a talisman and was deemed to have an apotropaic effect".[45] Some contain a wooden loop in the middle of one half so they could be worn hanging from a belt, or carried in a case.[46][47] A sweet-smelling fragrant substance may have been placed within shells that spread when the beads were used, making the objects comparable to the then fashionable pomanders.[45]

The carvings mostly depict scenes from the life of Mary and the Passion of Jesus.[48] Some surviving artifacts consist of a single bead, more rarely there are examples of ten half beads, including those gifted by Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon.[46] The figures are often dressed in fashionable contemporary clothing. The level of detail extends to the soldier's shields, their jacket buttons, jewelry, and candles.[49] In some instances they contain carved inscriptions usually related to the meaning of the narrative.[50][42] Their shape was likely intended to carry a deeper significance; with the outer sheath representing Christ's human flesh; the bead stand, his cross; and the interior reliefs, his divinity.[51][42] According to art historian Dora Thornton, "unfolding the nut is in itself an act of prayer, like opening up a personal illuminated prayer book, or watching the leaves of a large scale altarpiece being hinged back in a church service."[52] However, Scholten questions their use for private religious devotion, noting how their microscopic scale made them impractical for meditation, as their imagery was not discernible without a magnifying glass or very strong spectacles.[53]

Triptychs

Triptych: Adoration of the Magi, height: 43.8 cm. Flemish, c 1500. Art Gallery of Ontario

Miniature boxwood triptychs tend to be either standalone altarpieces or fixed hinge pieces embedded in a larger structure such as tabernacles. They usually served as portable devices for lay persons used for private devotion.[54] Their popularity reflects the growing affluence of merchants living in the major northern European ports. Their form and iconography often follow contemporary larger scale panel altarpieces,[55] with depictions of Christ Carrying of the Cross, and His Entry into Jerusalem as common subjects.[25] Other common features with larger altarpieces include folding wings, with in the miniatures are carved in low relief, as well as much smaller figures and scenes around borders of the central pictorial space.[56]

The triptychs are highly intricate, and because of their layered structure, often fragile. A triptych altarpiece (MMA 17.190.453) in the Metropolitan Museum of Art has a compartment for holding relics.[55] Many of their architectural features resemble those found in the contemporary northern Gothic style. Only the example in the British Museum contains an Italian Renaissance influence, evident in its baluster shafts and the pilasters containing prophets on either side of the Crucifixion.[29]

The late 15th-century veneration for the Passion of Jesus and the Sorrows of Mary had a strong bearing on the design and form of many of these type of altarpieces.[57] Part of the appeal of the Passion was that the contract between relatively simple scenes from the Life of Christ, and highly detailed vistas of more complex scenes, such as the crucifixion or depictions of Heaven and Hell, set in deep relief.[58]

Other formats

Other formats include statuettes, spherical pendants, coffins, statuettes, perfume flasks[59][60] and memento mori's in the form of skulls.

Collections

Rosary bead with the Vision of St Hubert and St George and the Dragon. Early 16th century, South Netherlands. 8.9cm x 4.5cm. Art Gallery of Ontario

For the original owners, the miniatures seemed to have served three functions; aids to private devotion, as luxury objects of status, and as novel playthings. Later they became precious family heirlooms, passed from generation to generation, and as medieval art fell out of fashion in the early modern period, their provenance was often lost.[61]

The earliest modern collection where they were considered objects of art is with the dukes of Bavaria, as recorded in a 1598 inventory which contains several boxwood miniatures.[62]

Of the surviving works, over one hundred re-emerged in 19th century Paris, in its then successful market for medieval and Renaissance art.[63] During this period, they were acquired by such collectors as Richard Wallace, Frédéric Spitzer, Ferdinand de Rothschild, and Adolphe de Rothschild.[64] When the American fiancier J. P. Morgan purchased Baron Albert Oppenheim's collection in 1906, he acquired four of the works, including a triptych with the Crucifixion and Resurrection, and a prayer nut showing the Carrying of the Cross.[65][66]

Study and conservation

Objects of this scale are difficult to view with the naked eye, and, even when held in the hand, the true level of intricacy is not easily realised.[2] The difficulty of producing magnified reproductions contributes to the fact that there has been comparatively little research into the format. Even traditional photography can fail to convey the true level of detail. Meaningful reproduction can only be achieved via computer modeling, where series of photographs at various focal depths are stacked to achieve consistent sharpness.[39]

Modern imaging technology has greatly improved the study of the objects since the late 20th century, including the use of x-rays.[67] CT scanning allows the capture of thousands of x-ray images which can then be assembled into a three-dimensional model.[2]

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Sharpe, Emily. "Good things come in small packages at the Rijksmuseum". The Art Newspaper, 17 June 2017. Retrieved 8 October 2018
  2. 1 2 3 Suda, Sasha. "Small Wonders: Gothic Boxwood Miniatures Introduction". Art Gallery of Ontario, 28 October 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2017
  3. ↑ Thornton (1985), p. 167
  4. ↑ Shaw, Tamsin. "The Universe in a Nutshell". The New York Review of Books, 12 May 2017. Retrieved 8 October 2018
  5. ↑ Marks (1977), p. 162
  6. ↑ Thornton (1985), pp. 162-194
  7. 1 2 Ellis; Suda (2016), p. 25
  8. ↑ Drake Boehm, Barbara; Suda, Alexandra. "What is Boxwood?". Art Gallery of Ontario. Retrieved 22 September 2018
  9. 1 2 3 Kahn, Eve. "Unlocking the Secrets of Boxwood Miniatures". New York Times, November 3, 2016. Retrieved March 17, 2017
  10. ↑ Ellis; Suda (2016), p. 23
  11. ↑ Ellis; Suda (2016), p. 63
  12. ↑ Ellis; Suda (2016), p. 55
  13. 1 2 Ellis; Suda (2016), pp. 65-66
  14. 1 2 Dandridge, Peter; Ellis, Lisa. "The Tracery Patterns of Gothic Boxwood Prayer Beads". Art Gallery of Ontario. Retrieved 1 October 2018
  15. ↑ Ellis; Suda (2016), p. 27
  16. ↑ Ellis; Suda (2016), p. 28
  17. ↑ Ellis; Suda (2016), p. 73
  18. ↑ Anderson (2012), p. 112
  19. ↑ McConnell (1991), p. 69
  20. ↑ Wixom (1983), p. 39
  21. 1 2 Shultz (1986), p. 18
  22. 1 2 Thornton (1985), p. 164
  23. ↑ Marks (1977), p. 132
  24. ↑ Bode (1904), p. 179
  25. 1 2 Wetter; Scholten (2017), p. 171
  26. 1 2 Scholten (2011), p. 339
  27. 1 2 3 4 5 Wixom (1983), p. 43
  28. ↑ Van Os; Filedt Kok (2000), pp. 107-8
  29. 1 2 Marks (1977), p. 142
  30. ↑ Scholten (2011), p. 342
  31. ↑ Marks (1977), p. 141
  32. ↑ "Adam Dircksz (Biographical details)". British Museum. Retrieved 8 October 2018
  33. ↑ Scholten (2016), pp. 24-36
  34. ↑ "Prayer Bead with the Crucifixion and Jesus Carrying the Cross". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 8 October 2018
  35. ↑ Marks (1977), p. 140
  36. ↑ "500-year-old secrets of boxwood miniatures unlocked". CNN, 9 December 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2017
  37. ↑ Wetter; Scholten (2017), p. 178
  38. ↑ Wetter; Scholten (2017), p. 176
  39. 1 2 "The study of boxwood prayer beads and miniature altars". American Institute for Conservation, 16 May 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2017
  40. ↑ Ellis; Suda (2016), p. 31
  41. ↑ Braimbridge, Mark. "The Waddesdon Bequest At The British Museum Part 1". Topiarius, Volume 14, Summer 2010. 15-17. Retrieved 25 February 2017
  42. 1 2 3 Thornton (1985), p. 162
  43. ↑ Scholten (2011), p. 332
  44. ↑ Ellis; Suda (2016), p. 47
  45. 1 2 Scholten (2011), p. 323
  46. 1 2 Ellis; Suda (2016), p. 77
  47. ↑ Thornton (1985), p. 187
  48. ↑ Ellis; Suda (2016), p. 80
  49. ↑ Ellis; Suda (2016), p. 50
  50. ↑ Ellis; Suda (2016), pp. 78-79
  51. ↑ Freeman (1976), p. 115
  52. ↑ Thornton (1985), p. 186
  53. ↑ Scholten (2011), p. 338
  54. ↑ Wixom (1999), p. 283
  55. 1 2 Ellis; Suda (2016), p. 85
  56. ↑ Wetter, Scholten (2017), p. 172
  57. ↑ Thornton (1985), p. 189
  58. ↑ Thornton (1985), p. 179
  59. ↑ "Memento Mori: Dives in Hell. Miniature Coffin". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 29 January 2017
  60. ↑ "Perfume flask WB.265". British Museum. Retrieved 24 February 2017
  61. ↑ Ellis; Suda (2016), p. 94
  62. ↑ Ellis; Suda (2016), p. 93-94
  63. ↑ Ellis; Suda (2016), p. 97
  64. ↑ Wixom (1983), p. 44
  65. ↑ Ellis; Suda (2016), pp. 97-98
  66. ↑ "Mr. Morgan's Old Carvings; Baron Oppenheim's Collection Bought by J. Pierpont Morgan Is Shown to London, But Not to New York -- Our Ridiculous Tariff Prevents Bringing Over Ancient Statues and Reliefs". The New York Times, 18 November 1906. Retrieved 14 September 2018
  67. ↑ Ellis, Lisa; Nelson, Andrew. "MicroCT Scanning our Gothic Boxwood Miniatures". Art Gallery of Ontario, 28 October 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2017
  68. ↑ "Letter P with the Legend of Saint Philip". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 9 October 2018

Sources

  • Anderson, Maxwell. "The Quality Instinct: Seeing Art Through a Museum Director's Eye". DC: American Alliance of Museums, 2012. ISBN 978-1-9332-5367-1
  • Bode, Wilhelm. "Italian Boxwood Carvings of the Early Sixteenth Century". The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, Volume 5, no. 14, 1904
  • Ellis, Lisa; Suda, Alexandra. "Small Wonders: Gothic Boxwood Miniatures". Art Gallery of Ontario, 2016. ISBN 978-1-8942-4390-2
  • Freeman, Margaret Beam. The Unicorn Tapestries. NY: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1976. ISBN 978-0-8709-9147-9
  • Gow Mann, James. Wallace Collection Catalogues: Sculpture. London: The Trustees of the Wallace Collection, 1931
  • Marks, Richard. "Two Early 16th Century Boxwood Carvings Associated with the Glymes Family of Bergen Op Zoom". Oud Holland, volume 91, no. 3, 1977
  • McConnell, Sophie. "Metropolitan Jewelry". New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1991
  • Porras, Stephanie. Art of the Northern Renaissance: Courts, Commerce and Devotion. London: Laurence King Publishing, 2018. ISBN 978-1-7862-7165-5
  • Scholten, Frits. Small Wonders: Late Gothic Boxwood Microcarvings from the Low Countries. Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum, 2017. ISBN 978-9-4917-1493-1
  • Scholten, Frits. "A Prayer Nut in a Silver Housing by 'Adam Dirckz'". The Rijksmuseum Bulletin, Volume 59, No. 4, 2011. pp. 322–347
  • Shultz, Ellen (ed). Recent Acquisitions: A Selection, 1985-1986. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1986. ISBN 978-0-8709-9478-4
  • Thornton, Dora, A Rothschild Renaissance: The Waddesdon Bequest. London: British Museum Press, 1985. ISBN 978-0-7141-2345-5
  • Van Os, H. W.; Filedt Kok, Jan Piet. "Netherlandish Art in Rijksmuseum: 1400-1600". Ann Arbor, MI: Antique Collectors Club Limited, 2000. ISBN 9789--0400-9376-0
  • Wetter; Evelin, Scholten, Frits. Prayer nuts, private devotion, and early modern art collecting. Riggisberg : Abegg-Stiftung, 2017. ISBN 978-3-9050-1464-8
  • Wixom, William. Mirror of the Medieval World. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999. ISBN 978-0-8709-9785-3
  • Wixom, William. "A Brabantine Boxwood Triptych". Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts, Volume 61, No. 1/2, Summer 1983. pp. 38–4

Further reading

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.