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Gabled triptych, 3 registers; known as the Rau Triptych (Front)

Gabled triptych, 3 registers; known as the Rau Triptych (Front)
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Front

Front

Subject
Religious. Life of the Virgin. Legend of the Death of the Virgin.


Private collection, London (in 2015)

S/n

Ivory;metal (hinges)

Height: 267mm
Width: 265mm

Wing, left
Register 1: Virgin kneeling in prayer on a mound; Annunciation of the Virgin's death by an angel (Gabriel); Virgin lying on a bed; blessing hand of God; curtain.
Register 2: saint John receives the palm from the Virgin; female onlookers.
Register 3: Death of the Virgin (Dormition); apostles; clouds.
Centre panel
Register 1: Coronation of the Virgin; angel crowning the Virgin; two standing angels holding candlesticks; musician angels (string instrument and harp).
Register 2: Christ holding the soul of the Virgin; Assumption; Virgin in a mandorla borne to Heaven by angels; musician angels (portable organ; string instrument; psaltery); angels blowing trumpets; angels holding navettes and swinging censers; clouds.
Register 3: Entombment of the Virgin; apostles; blessing hand of God.
Wing, right
Register 1: Virgin received in heaven by angels; angel swinging a censer; musician angel playing a string instrument.
Register 2: angels carrying the Virgin's coffin into Heaven.
Register 3: Funeral procession of the Virgin; the high priest Jechonias is punished for trying to overturn Mary's bier: his hands stick to it; male and female onlookers.
Rosettes along the central gable.

Natanson 1951: French, c. 1320-1330.


Attribution
Unknown

Hinges
Two hinges on either side.

Polychromy - Gilding
Extensive polychromy and gilding.

Reverse
Flat and smooth. Labels with inscriptions: '50 / Oct 20 / 71 and '117', 'NATURAL LE COULTRE GENEVE'.

Comments
Kept in a fitted leather case (in 1961).

Provenance
Demotte collection, early 20th century. Collection of Paul Robert Gustav Horst, Paris; by descent to his son Robert Horst: Christie's, London, 28 November 1961, lot 84, pl. XXV. Christie's, London, 20 October 1971, lot 50. On loan to Museum Schnütgen, Cologne, September 2009 to December 2012. Sotheby's, London, 2 July 2013, lot 11; private collection, London (in 2013).

Bibliography
Engel, ed. by J. Schoch, exhibition catalogue, Zürich, Galerie Le Point, 1999, p. 142, no. 134.


Image

© Private collection, London - 2013.

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