Lot n° 66
Estimation :
20000 - 30000
EUR
Result with fees
Result
: 27 048EUR
Brabant, Bruxelles, attribué à l'atelier de Jan I Borman, ve - Lot 66
Brabant, Bruxelles, attribué à l'atelier de Jan I Borman, vers 1480/1510
Annunciation in walnut carved in high relief, element of altarpiece. Mary kneels on her prie-dieu and holds an open book in her left hand. The angel dressed in a dalmatic with a stole slung over his shoulder holds a branch of lily in his left hand. In the background, a bed with hangings and trimmings.
H. : 42,5 cm - W. : 26 cm
(small lacks and accidents)
A fragment of an identical model is preserved in the Museum of Art and History of Brussels (inv 1006) coming from the legacy of the Hagemans collection in 1861. It is attributed to a workshop in Brabant around 1490.
A preparatory model is undoubtedly at the origin of these two altarpiece elements, which gave free rein to the sculptors' own style, resulting in slight differences: the morphology of the faces, which are more elongated in the element presented here, but also the more upturned nose and more slender eyes.
The walnut wood used allows us to think that this element was carved in the middle or second half of the 15th century. Indeed, art historians have observed that Brussels workshops produced altarpieces in oak and walnut. Walnut was used from the beginning to the middle of the 15th century and its use declined in the 16th century because of its fragility to insect attacks.
Workshops active in Brussels in the 15th century are known; that of the Bormans, and in particular that of Jane I, provided works that can be compared to this Annunciation. We can compare it with a Virgin and Child in the collections of the Leuven Museum (fig. 1). Jane I Borman's way of sculpting elongated faces, long, straight, thin noses, slightly tight but not pinched mouths, necks that elongate the face, and wavy locks of hair that fall broadly in front of the shoulders are characteristics that we find in the two faces of the angel and Mary.
Works consulted: B. d'Hainaut-Zveny, Miroirs du sacré, les Retables sculptés à Bruxelles aux XVe et XVIe siècle, Brussels, 2005
A.Huysmans, La sculpture des Pays-Bas méridionaux et de la Principauté de Liège. XVe et XVIe siècles, Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, 2000
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