Virgin and Child with the Young St. John the Baptist
1883
oil on wood
79 x 110 cm
St. Martin (perhaps Valentine?) and a bishop saint (Saint Louis of Toulouse?); detail from the movable wing of winged altarpiece
Inv. 55.68
74.2 x 41.6 cm
On the inner side of the wings, a series of male saints were presented in pairs, their identities uncertain, against a patterned, gilt background (55.68, 55.69, 55.70). The outer sides of the wings and the stationary wings portrayed scenes from the legend of Felix, Regula and Exuperantius, the patron saints of Zurich. Of the four panels originally belonging to the movable wing, three were sawed in two, with both sides now owned by the Christian Museum. The four panels on the stationary wing are also part of the Christian Museum’s collection. The former outer side of the fourth panel from the movable wing is now in the Belvedere collection in Vienna (inv. no. 4978), while its inner side is lost. Thus the majority of the panels were sawn in two or thinned and trimmed; this explains the differences in size among the works.
Provenance:
Of the series, nos. 55.52 and 55.53 belonged to the Zichy collection and were acquired by the Municipal Gallery, later by the Museum of Fine Arts, and in 1937, as part of an exchange, by the Christian Museum. (The panels were received in exchange for two fragments depicting Mary of Sorrows and St. John the Evangelist from the predella of the Okolicsnó main altar). The other panels are from the collection of Arnold Ipolyi, who purchased them, according to Vilmos Fraknói, in the area of Kassa. 55.51: ‘77. Altarpiece wing images on wood: three holy pilgrims. Late 15th c.’ (Lakatos-Balla 290)
Restoration:
Dezső Varga, 1956
On the inner side of the wings, a series of male saints were presented in pairs, their identities uncertain, against a patterned, gilt background (55.68, 55.69, 55.70). The outer sides of the wings and the stationary wings portrayed scenes from the legend of Felix, Regula and Exuperantius, the patron saints of Zurich. Of the four panels originally belonging to the movable wing, three were sawed in two, with both sides now owned by the Christian Museum. The four panels on the stationary wing are also part of the Christian Museum’s collection. The former outer side of the fourth panel from the movable wing is now in the Belvedere collection in Vienna (inv. no. 4978), while its inner side is lost. Thus the majority of the panels were sawn in two or thinned and trimmed; this explains the differences in size among the works.
Provenance:
Of the series, nos. 55.52 and 55.53 belonged to the Zichy collection and were acquired by the Municipal Gallery, later by the Museum of Fine Arts, and in 1937, as part of an exchange, by the Christian Museum. (The panels were received in exchange for two fragments depicting Mary of Sorrows and St. John the Evangelist from the predella of the Okolicsnó main altar). The other panels are from the collection of Arnold Ipolyi, who purchased them, according to Vilmos Fraknói, in the area of Kassa. 55.51: ‘77. Altarpiece wing images on wood: three holy pilgrims. Late 15th c.’ (Lakatos-Balla 290)
Restoration:
Dezső Varga, 1956
