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Liturgical or altar cabinet

Gothic

Anonymous (follower of the Master of Roussillon)

First third of the fifteenth century

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The paintings on this piece of furniture have been assigned to a follower of the so-called Master of Roussillon (for some, Arnau Pintor), an artist active in that region around 1400. Like the works of the latter, the work is part of the early stages of the international Gothic style in Catalonia. Closed, the cupboard shows Saint Michael on the left side, another armed angel on the right and on the front the scene of the Noli me tangere, with the risen Christ on one door and Mary Magdalene on the other. Inside, the background of the cabinet is presided over by a carved crucifix, with a very elaborate foot, flanked by the mourning figures of the Virgin and Saint John painted in each side, while in the open doors can be seen, also painted, Christ carrying the cross on the left and the flagellation scene on the right. The object, a simple parallelepiped box with doors, without feet or crests, was conceived to be placed on a piece of furniture or a shelf, or hung on the wall, since it is not painted below or behind. As in other similar cases (for example, that of another cabinet also from Roussillon preserved in the MNAC, with the Holy Burial painted inside), it can be assumed that liturgical vessels were kept inside, or even that the Eucharist. But in the case of this cabinet, both because of its shallow depth and of the eminent presence of the Crucifix, an obligatory iconographic reference for the celebration of mass, it is possible to think that it served as an altarpiece in a private oratory or even on a secondary altar, halfway between the liturgical or Eucharistic cabinet and the altarpiece-tabernacle. The presence of an Easter scene painted on the outside, not very usual in such kind of furniture, would be better explained if it were placed on an altar dedicated, for example, to Saint Mary Magdalene.

Marc Sureda Jubany

Llegir més

Location

Room7 ,Floor0

4 Romanesque Art

5-6-7-8 Gothic Art

Detalls de l’obra

PLACE OF EXECUTION

Roussillon workshops (?)

PERIOD

First third of the fifteenth century

Material

Tempera paint on wood

Dimensions

95 x 130 x 16.5 cm (open)

Origin

Provenance unknown

WORK NUMBER

MEV 569