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A Netherlandish Carved Altarpiece c. 1510

A Netherlandish Carved Altarpiece c. 1510
The oak altarpiece of about 1510 from Brussels in the Royal Ontario Museum is attributed to the Borman workshop. Similar to other altarpieces of the time, the corpus assumes the form of an inverted “T”. In the central compartment, there is a representation of the Nativity / the Adoration of the Shepherd. The left compartment features Presentation in the Temple, at the moment of Christ’s circumcision. On the right, we see an image of the Adoration of the Magi. Above the central scene, there is a Coronation of the Virgin. In the bottom compartment contains two prophets holding scrolls of the Holy Scriptures. The retable’s possible placement on the high altar, where the Eucharist is celebrated, explains the limitation of its subject matters. The carved altarpiece functions as an illustration of the central themes of the Mass, and aid for meditation and a suitable backdrop for the moment of consecration. The examination of the orig...

Posted by: Garrick Christian

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