855 - A LATE MEDIEVAL WINGED ALTARPIECE

A LATE MEDIEVAL WINGED ALTARPIECE Mitteldeutsch, um 1500 und später - Die Fassung, Bemalung der Außenflügel und Umbau der Predella durch F. W. Mengelberg (Utrecht), Ende 19.Jh. ca. 170 x 195 x 49 cm total, oben/up B. 141/282 cm A two-part oak altar, comprising a predella and a two-door altar shrine with rich, Gothic-style carvings. Made from older parts, it was partially remodelled and supplemented in the late 19th century. The central group of figures depicts the Lamentation of Christ, flanked by St Paul and St Nicholas. The two wings feature six further figures of saints: St Nicholas or Bishop, St Gertrudis (?), St Barbara, St Servatius (?), St Roch and others (H. 49/52 cm). In the predella, a central tabernacle compartment features the figure of the Salvator Mundi, flanked by the 12 Apostles. (H. approx. 29/30 cm). Figures made of limewood, restored. The outer sides of the altar wings are painted with depictions of a holy bishop beside the Wekbeker coat of arms, a banner inscribed ‘Hyacinthe Wekbeker 1893’; at the bottom right, the monogram MW for (Friedrich) Willem Mengelberg (Utrecht); on the right-hand wing, a depiction of St James with the coat of arms of the Barons of Heddesdorff. Age-related damages; the lacework is damaged and has missing sections, restored and supplemented. From the collection of Johanna von Wekbeker (1851-1918); has since remained in the family through inheritance Lit. Mentioned in *Die Kunstdenkmäler der Rheinprovinz, Landkreise Aachen und Eupen*, L. Schwann, Düsseldorf, 1922 Friedrich Wilhelm Mengelberg (1837 Cologne - 1919 Utrecht) was the son of a Cologne woodturner; he studied at his grandfather’s ‘Mengelberg Drawing School’ and under the Cologne sculptor Christoph Stephann. He initially ran a sculptor’s workshop in Cologne. It was probably through his friendship with the Aachen chaplain Franz Bock that he was commissioned in 1868 to create a bishop’s throne for Utrecht Cathedral; he moved there in 1869, and by 1890 his studio employed 32 people. Works by him and his workshop can be found in Cologne Cathedral, Utrecht Cathedral, St Nicholas’ Basilica in IJsselstein and the Imperial Cathedral in Frankfurt - the lacework on the St Anne’s Altar there is very similar in style to the carving shown here.