15 Two Prophets holding Text Scrolls

Two Prophets holding Text Scrolls
Brabant | Antwerp

Late Gothic | First quarter of the 16th Century | Ca. 1515-1220
Oak | Carved in high relief
H. 21,2 cm. W. 8 cm. D. 3 cm. and H. 21,4 cm. W. 7,2 cm. D. 3,2 cm.

PROVENANCE
With Patrick Reijgersberg v.o.f. | Haarlem | 1995
Private collection | The Hague

REFERENCE LITERATURE
Leeuwenberg, J. (1973). Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum. Amsterdam/The Hague, pp. 139-140, cat. nrs. 153 and 154;
Boodt, R. De & Schafer, U (2007).? ?Vlaamse Retabels: Een internationale reis langs laatmiddeleeuws beeldsnijwerk?. Louvain: Davidsfonds, pp. 136-137; p. 140; pp. 181-182 and p. 187

DOCUMENTATION
With proof of purchase by Patrick Reijgersberg, Haarlem, dd. 11 February 1995

CATALOGUE NOTE
Stylistically this exceptionally fine pair of figures can be placed in Antwerp in the first quarter of the 16th Century. A relatable pair of sculptures dating to ca. 1520-1525 can be found in the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam (Leeuwenberg, 1973, p. 1394; inv. nrs. BK-NM-2475 and BK-NM-2477) of which the first one is marked with the hand-shaped city mark of Antwerp. The same collection holds a second, slightly larger and later (ca. 1525) pair of Prophets (Leeuwenberg, 1973, p. 140; inv. nrs. BK-NM-11395a and BK-NM-11395b), both marked for Antwerp. The present figures both stand on individual modelled bases that are finished halfway round, which indicates that they were intended as separate sculptures, as can ben found in the upper section of the Antwerp passion retable altarpiece at the Stiftskirche St. Martin und St. Severus in Münstermaifeld, Germany, dated 1518-1519 (Boodt, 2007, pp. 136-137) or the Antwerp passion retable altarpiece at the Stiftskirche St. Victor in Xanten, Germany, dated 1525 (Boodt, 2007, p. 140 and pp. 181-182). The upwards looking Prophet is closely related to a Prophet figure in the lower register of the Antwerp St Anna retable, dated 1513-1514, in the Pfarrkirche St. Martiae Geburt in Kempen, Germany (Boodt, 2007, p. 187), indicating a date ca. 1515-1520.

within the Christian tradition prophets or prophetesses are those mentioned as such in the Old Testament and the New Testament. It is believed that prophets are chosen and called by God to speak on His behalf, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings. As such the message that the prophet conveys is called a prophecy. In Christian iconography prophets figure at specific events and concepts from the New Testament either foretelling the birth of Christ of his passion and death. Within Nativity-cycles the representation of a prophet as an old man with a beard holding a scroll refers to Isaiah 7:14: Ecce virgo concipiet et pariet filium et vocabitur nomen eius Emmanuel (“behold, a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be Emmanuel"). Prophets also frequently appear in Tree of Jesse iconography, where the scroll refers to the words from Isaiah 11:10: In die illa radix Iesse, qui stat in signum populorum, ipsum gentes deprecabuntur, et erit sepulchrum eius gloriosum (“In that day the root of Jesse, who standeth for an ensign of the people, him the Gentiles shall beseech, and his sepulchre shall be glorious"). As such, the Prophet figures fit within the narrative of a Passion-cycle, such as the examples in Münstermaifeld and Xanten, as outlined in the above.