Stabat Mater

Stabat Mater
South Netherlandish | Possibly Antwerp
Baroque | Last quarter of the 17th Century | Ca. 1680
Boxwood | Carved in full round | On marble base
H. 20,8 cm. (excl. base) H. 24,8 cm. (incl. base)

PROVENANCE
With Van Aalst Kunst & Antiek | Breda | 1994
Private collection | The Hague

REFERENCE LITERATURE
Exhibition catalogue (1971). Europäische Barockplastik am Niederrhein. Grupello und seine Zeit. Düsseldorf, pp. 310315, ill. 165;
Leeuwenberg, J. (1973). Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum. Amsterdam/The Hague, pp. 285-259, cat. nr 347, with ill.

CERTIFICATE
With a an expertise by L.P.M van Aalst, Breda, dd. 11 October 1994

CATALOGUE NOTE
The Stabat Mater is a representation within Christian iconography that portrays the Madonna and her suffering as Christ's mother during His crucifixion. The name is derived from a 13th-century Christian hymn either written by the Franciscan friar Jacopone da Todi or Pope Innocent III and comes from its first line: "Stabat mater dolorósa juxta Crucem lacrimósa, dum pendébat Fílius", which means "The sorrowful mother was standing beside the Cross weeping, while the Son was hanging". The iconographical type is also known as Our Lady of Sorrows. The Stabat Mater has been set to music by several Western composers.

The present statuette reveals stylistic influence from the Antwerp sculptor Pieter Scheemaeckers the Elder (Antwerp, 1640 – Arendonk, 1714), who played an important role in the development of Baroque sculpture in the late 17th century Habsburg Netherlands. His theatrical and highly expressive style featuring a vivid imagination is exemplary of the late Baroque in Flemish sculpture and displays a the trend towards the Rococo in its pictorial and decorative effects. Though primarily known for his (designs for) large church sculpture and monumental tombs, he also produced small scale works in ivory and boxwood. A fine statuette of the Archangel Michael fighting the dragon in boxwood by him can be found in the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam (inv. nr. BK-1978-35) and a stylistically related St. Anne in lime wood (inv. nr. BK-1954-38; Leeuwenberg, 1973, pp. 285-259, cat. nr 347). As such, an origin of the present statuette in Antwerp in tast quarter of the 17th century or even in Scheemaeckers’ workshop or circle appears plausible.