Ask the Scholar

Document scope · 3 pages
obj
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory. For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.

Source Description

Altarpieces with hinged wings were closed except on major feast days, so that ordinarily only the exterior panels of the wings were visible. They were often less sumptuous than the interior, though no less intriguing. Here, everyday details and fantasy are intimately linked. The vigorously painted figures of Saints Lawrence (holding the grill on which he was burned alive) and Leonard stand in front of a brocade cloth hung from simple hooks in a low-ceilinged room. The saints stand in a meadow strewn with little flowers. At Saint Leonard's feet is the spring, which he discovered using a divining rod, and the animals drawn to its waters. The interior is much more flamboyant, with an architecturally-defined center panel, originally housing painted wooden statues of saints (now missing) and individual saints on the wings.The name of the painter is unknown, but the style, including the characteristic circles under the eyes, is close to that of the Altarpiece of the Legend of Saint Michael from a church in Arguis, Spain (now in the Prado Museum, in Madrid). However, the attribution is uncertain; indeed, comparisons have also been made with Austrian painting of the period.

Scholar Source Context

Document identity
localId
34852
label
Exterior of a Triptych with Saints Lawrence and Leonard
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
3
Source metadata
id
34852
contentType
drawing
stage
normalized
title
Exterior of a Triptych with Saints Lawrence and Leonard
description
Altarpieces with hinged wings were closed except on major feast days, so that ordinarily only the exterior panels of the wings were visible. They were often less sumptuous than the interior, though no less intriguing. Here, everyday details and fantasy are intimately linked. The vigorously painted figures of Saints Lawrence (holding the grill on which he was burned alive) and Leonard stand in front of a brocade cloth hung from simple hooks in a low-ceilinged room. The saints stand in a meadow strewn with little flowers. At Saint Leonard's feet is the spring, which he discovered using a divining rod, and the animals drawn to its waters. The interior is much more flamboyant, with an architecturally-defined center panel, originally housing painted wooden statues of saints (now missing) and individual saints on the wings.The name of the painter is unknown, but the style, including the characteristic circles under the eyes, is close to that of the Altarpiece of the Legend of Saint Michael from a church in Arguis, Spain (now in the Prado Museum, in Madrid). However, the attribution is uncertain; indeed, comparisons have also been made with Austrian painting of the period.
provenance
Henry Walters, Baltimore, after 1929, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
ca. 1450 (Late Medieval)
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Painting & Drawing
altarpieces
paintings
imageCount
3
pageCount
3
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
133.4
height
205.7
depth
26.7
dimensionsRaw
framed: 52 1/2 x 81 x 10 1/2 in. (133.4 x 205.7 x 26.7 cm);open: 54 x 81 1/4 x 11 1/2 in. (137.16 x 206.38 x 29.21 cm)
style
Gothic
Source extras
cul
Spanish
med
oil, gold leaf, and wax on wood
creator_ids
5697
collection_ids
REN
exhibition_ids
none
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
802a899ba7c95a58
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
8c10927473da3cc9
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
3
type
photo
mediaId
0c43cd7ea97510cc
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no