Two scenes from the legend of St. Catherine of Alexandria; detail from the movable wing of a winged altarpiece.
c. 1430
Pine, tempera
On the reverse: St. Catherine of Alexandria or perhaps St. Barbara
Inv. 54.2.2
78 x 130 cm
Originally painted on both sides, this panel painting certainly adorned the movable wing of an impressive winged altarpiece consisting of eight or twelve scenes from the life of St. Catherine of Alexandria. The scene on the former feast-day side of the panel is in relatively good condition, although it bears traces of multiple efforts at restoring and adding to the work. However, the depiction on the workday side, painted directly on the wood without any grounding, is strongly abraded. The trimming of the verso may have occurred when the two images were sawed apart (1969); this would explain the difference in the dimensions of the two works. Presumably the altar wing had been trimmed all the way around beforehand; the original dimensions may have been 120 x 140 cm.
In Bát, the two Catherine panels were placed in the same frame along with two other paintings of female saints dated to c. 1480 (55.44; 55.45). Together the works served a new secondary function as an antependium.
Provenance:
According to the authors of the Christian Museum’s 1964 catalogue, the panel originally belonged to a winged altarpiece from the Benedictine Abbey of Garamszentbenedek (?) or the Church of St. Catherine in Selmecbánya (?) The panel was purchased by János Csernoch, archbishop of Esztergom, from the Church of St. Martin in Bát for the Christian Museum in 1916.
Restoration:
Sebestyén Endrődi, 1916; Dezső Varga, 1955-56; Dezső Varga, 1969 (sawing apart, new base).
Originally painted on both sides, this panel painting certainly adorned the movable wing of an impressive winged altarpiece consisting of eight or twelve scenes from the life of St. Catherine of Alexandria. The scene on the former feast-day side of the panel is in relatively good condition, although it bears traces of multiple efforts at restoring and adding to the work. However, the depiction on the workday side, painted directly on the wood without any grounding, is strongly abraded. The trimming of the verso may have occurred when the two images were sawed apart (1969); this would explain the difference in the dimensions of the two works. Presumably the altar wing had been trimmed all the way around beforehand; the original dimensions may have been 120 x 140 cm.
In Bát, the two Catherine panels were placed in the same frame along with two other paintings of female saints dated to c. 1480 (55.44; 55.45). Together the works served a new secondary function as an antependium.
Provenance:
According to the authors of the Christian Museum’s 1964 catalogue, the panel originally belonged to a winged altarpiece from the Benedictine Abbey of Garamszentbenedek (?) or the Church of St. Catherine in Selmecbánya (?) The panel was purchased by János Csernoch, archbishop of Esztergom, from the Church of St. Martin in Bát for the Christian Museum in 1916.
Restoration:
Sebestyén Endrődi, 1916; Dezső Varga, 1955-56; Dezső Varga, 1969 (sawing apart, new base).
