The thief to the left of Christ

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The thief to the left of Christ (Master of Flémalle)
The thief to the left of Christ
Master of Flémalle , around 1430
Mixed media on oak
134.2 x 92.5 cm
Städelsches Kunstinstitut , Frankfurt am Main

The thief to the left of Christ (also called the fragment of a crucifixion with the evil thief or simply thief fragment ) is a painting that has been preserved as a fragment of an otherwise submerged winged altar . It was created around 1430 and is attributed to the Flemish so-called Master von Flémalle , who is now assigned by art history to the workshop of Robert Campin from Tournai .

Image description

The picture depicts a crucifixion . The crucified Christ who has already died, who takes up the main part of the surviving fragment of the picture , is not Jesus of Nazareth , as he has some typical iconographic attributes such as the crown of thorns ( Mt 27.29  EU ) and the wound on the side ( Joh 19,34  EU ) are missing, on the other hand the legs are broken, which was expressly omitted with Jesus ( Joh 19,33  EU ). Rather, it is one of the two thieves who were crucified together with Jesus ( Lk 23.39-43  EU ). The arrangement to the left of Christ and the head turned away from Christ characterize him as the "evil" thief who shows no repentance even in the face of death. The cross, which does not have the shape of the Passion Cross, but rather a T-shaped Antony Cross, points to the thief. The picture thus proves to be part of an originally complete crucifixion group . Copies and traces of the rest of the altarpieces show that the entire altar did not show a crucifixion, but, unusually, a descent from the cross .

Small-format copy of the complete altarpiece, from the environment of the master of the (Bruges) Ursula legend , end of the 15th century, today Walker Art Gallery , Liverpool

Two viewers stand next to the cross. The back of them is wearing a turban- like headgear and has his eyes fixed on the thief. The one in front, on the other hand, looks past the thief to the Descent from the Cross in the lost central part of the altar. He is identified by his uniform as a Roman soldier; presumably it is about the "righteous centurion" who recognizes Jesus as the Son of God at the moment of his death ( Lk 23,47  EU ).

Striking is next to the shockingly gruesome-real anatomical representation of the crucified also the image background: He's not about painted above the horizon as the sky, but as gilded Press brocade designed its textile appearance by a regular repeat of oriental characters, birds and pomegranates made becomes. In the complete altar triptych, this background design was intended to create the illusion of a golden shroud of honor covering the back of a wooden carved altar - an effect similar to that used in Rogier van der Weyden's Descent from the Cross in Madrid .

The back of the wooden panel, i.e. the former exterior of the altar, is also painted, albeit in a poor state of preservation. The painting, designed as a grisaille , shows a bearded, long-haired man in a wall niche under a canopy. Due to cracks in the wood, a wooden strip was glued on for stabilization during an improper restoration in the 19th century, for which the painting had to be partially planed off. It is possible that the back of the panel was already painted black at that time, so that the restorers at the time were not even aware of the damage that had been done. The fragment of the picture that was uncovered during the last restoration apparently originally represented John the Baptist .

Attribution

In 1849 the Städelsche Kunstinstitut in Frankfurt am Main acquired three picture panels with the indication of the origin of an alleged (and nonexistent) "Abbey of Flémalle", whereupon the emergency name "Meister von Flémalle" was established for the unknown artist of these works . The Schächer fragment, which has been in the Städel's possession since 1840 and is stylistically very close to the three panels, could then be assigned to this master. Although this master is one of the most important artists of old Dutch painting alongside Hubert and Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden , he is not a historically comprehensible person who can be documented. In art historical research, he is now unanimously associated with the workshop of Robert Campin (around 1375–1444), with Campin's own role being the subject of scientific discussion. Albert Châtelet and Felix Thürlemann largely equate the master of Flémalle with Campin. In contrast, Stephan Kemperdick and, following him, Jochen Sander stick to the emergency name, as they suspect Campin's role as workshop manager mainly in the acquisition of orders, while the driving artistic force was Campin's young workshop employees, in particular Rogier van der Weyden, who had been Campin's employee since 1427 . The Schächer fragment is very likely a workshop work by different painters, which makes the “hand separation”, that is, the assignment of individual parts of the picture to different performing “hands”, tedious and frustrating.

history

It is believed that the winged altar was originally erected in Bruges . The church of St. Jakob was previously suspected as a possible installation site, but more recent research has shown that the Prinsenhof chapel is more likely.

The altar probably fell victim to a Reformation iconoclasm in the 16th century . The panel painting with the Schächer fragment and the also painted back, which roughly represents the upper half of the original right wing of the altar, is the only thing that has survived from the altar retable.

The picture can be traced back to Aschaffenburg in 1811 and was probably part of the painting sale by a "Mahlerey dealer Kollard" at the time. In 1840 it was acquired by the Städel Art Institute in Frankfurt and has since been the subject of several art historical studies. Between 2014 and 2017 it was completely restored in the restoration workshop of the Liebieghaus Frankfurt, after the restoration was completed it was presented in a special exhibition and then returned to its original location in the neighboring Städel Museum.

gallery

  • Schächer fragment, condition after the restoration

  • Schächer fragment, condition before restoration

  • Detailed view of the minor characters

literature

  • Martin Büchsel: The thief fragment of the master of Flémalle: repentance and knowledge. An example of emotional self-control. In: Tobias Frese, Annette Hoffmann (Ed.): Habitus. Norm and transgression in text and images. Akademie Verlag, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-05-005094-2 , pp. 93-115 ( DOI: 10.1524 / 9783050062396.93 ).
  • Albert Châtelet: Robert Campin. Le Maître de Flémalle. La fascination du quotidien. Mercatorfonds, Antwerp 1996, ISBN 90-6153-364-3 .
  • Stephan Kemperdick: The Master of Flémalle. The workshop of Robert Campins and Rogier van der Weyden. Brepols, Turnhout 1997, ISBN 2-503-50566-X .
  • Stephan Kemperdick, Jochen Sander (eds.): The master of Flémalle and Rogier van der Weyden. Exhibition catalog of the Städel Museum Frankfurt, November 21, 2008 - February 22, 2009 and the Gemäldegalerie der Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, March 20, 2009 - June 21, 2009. Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern 2008, ISBN 978-3-7757-2258-2 , esp. pp. 218-223.
  • Jochen Sander (Ed.): In new splendor. The Flémalle Master's thief fragment in context. Exhibition catalog of the Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung Frankfurt, November 15, 2017 - February 18, 2018. Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2017, ISBN 978-3-7954-3251-5 .
  • Felix Thürlemann : Robert Campin. Monograph and catalog of works. Prestel, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-7913-2807-7 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Albert Châtelet: Robert Campin. Le Maître de Flémalle. La fascination du quotidien. Mercatorfonds, Antwerp 1996, ISBN 90-6153-364-3 .
  2. ^ Felix Thürlemann: Robert Campin. Monograph and catalog of works. Prestel, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-7913-2807-7 .
  3. ^ Stephan Kemperdick: The master of Flémalle. The workshop of Robert Campins and Rogier van der Weyden. Brepols, Turnhout 1997, ISBN 2-503-50566-X .
  4. ↑ Jochen Sander, Fabian Wolf: Possibilities of painting anew explored. In: Jochen Sander (Ed.): In new splendor. Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2017, ISBN 978-3-7954-3251-5 , pp. 15–38, here p. 16 f.
  5. ↑ Fabian Wolf: On the installation site of the Descent from the Cross triptych. A revision of the sources after the recent restoration. In: Jochen Sander (Ed.): In new splendor. Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2017, ISBN 978-3-7954-3251-5 , pp. 77-95.