DEVOTIONAL PLAQUE. IVORY, WOOD. CIRCA LAST THIRD 16TH CENTURY, AFTER JAN SADELER I

devotional plate; Last Supper, Christ on the Mount of Olives. Wood, tinted ivory and engraving. Towards the last third of the 16th century, following models by Jan Sadeler I (active 1550-1600). Rectangular carved wooden plaque with a ring and a hole on the back, presenting two ovals on the front with biblical themes enhanced with dark wood frames decorated with square diamond points above and below and rectangular on the sides, and winged heads of angels on the corners that these two compositions leave free. On the left, the Last Supper appears at the top, with Christ under a canopy and accompanied by Saint Peter and the rest of the Apostles on both sides; below, Judas receiving the bag of coins; A series of architectural elements, angels, fabrics, plant motifs, scrolls, etc. complete the space. of clear classicist influence. On the right, the theme of Christ on the Mount of Olives, with Jesus raising one hand towards the chalice offered to him by an angel and accompanied by two sleeping Apostles, and with two soldiers; below, and through a door, the Arrest of Christ; A series of bands topped with volutes, architectural and vegetal motifs, etc. complete and organize the composition. of classicist influence. Both scenes are inspired, very closely, by two engravings from the series “Passio Verbigenae Quae Nostra Redemptio Christi”, published by Jan Sadeler I (active 1550-1600) between 1575 and 1600 and inspired by Marcus Gheeraerts I (Bruges, 1516/ 21-London, c.1590). Engravings from this series are preserved in many prominent museums around the world (British Museum in London, Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, etc.). According to experts, around 1580, the artist Marcus Gheeraerts designed this series of the Passion of Christ, framed, highlighted, hierarchical and structured thanks to an elaborate and delicate system of grotesques and other classicist elements that is applied to the iconographic themes it presents. At the time of the creation of engravings, and later, during the Baroque, the use of engraved (or carved) ivory or bone plaques on furniture, lecterns, altars of personal devotion, devotional plaques, etc. was common. Compare, for example, with desks from the Flemish school, the Neapolitan school, etc. such as the one dated around 1600 from the Philadelphia Museum of Art (workshop of Iacobus Fiamenco, Flemish; active in Naples, Italy, between 1594 and 1602; with scenes based on engravings by Dirk Volkertsz; Coornhert, Netherlandish, 1522 – 1590; following designs by Maarten van Heemskerck (active Haarlem and Rome, 1498-1574)). It is also necessary to mention pieces such as the reliquary altarpiece of the Brotherhood of the Blood of Christ from the Church of Santa Isabel de Portugal (San Cajetan) in Zaragoza, which presents religious scenes based on engravings by Antonius Wieris (1555/9-1604) .

· Size: 12x1,5x13 cms.