Saint John the Evangelist
Germany (Saxony?), mid-twelfth century
Provenance
Ruth Blumka collection (New York).
Study
The plaque has an arched top and a blue enameled border. The figure is that of an Apostle, standing and with the Book of Scriptures in his right hand. The inscription next to him, “S / IHS” abbreviates his name in Latin, Sanctus Iohannes, that is, Saint John the Evangelist.
This plaque belongs to a series of eight others, similar in form, proportion and style, each with an Apostle: Saint Bartholomew, Saint Thomas, Saint Simon and Saint Jude in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,1 Saint Peter in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore,2 Saint James in the Art Institute, Chicago3, Saint Philip in the Museum August Kestner, Hanover,4 and Saint Matthew in a private collection.5
Saint Bartholomew, Germany (Saxony?), mid-twelfth century. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Saint Thomas, Germany (Saxony?), mid‑twelfth century. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Saint Jude, Germany (Saxony?), mid‑twelfth century. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Saint Simon, Germany (Saxony?), mid‑twelfth century. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
We may note certain differences between these plaques, especially the framing border, which consists of blue enamel in some cases, and a simple guilloché motif in others. In addition, the Apostles are represented either standing or seated on an enamelled bench; and their haloes are sometimes entirely enamelled, while in others the halo is formed only of a ring of enamelling. However, these differences in no way rule out the possibility that all nine plaques originally formed part of a single work,6 perhaps an altar frontal or a large reliquary chasse.
Saint Peter, Germany (Saxony?), mid‑twelfth century. Baltimore, The Walters Art Museum.
This group of Apostles has also been associated with three rectangular plaques with historiated scenes:7 the Nativity in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London Londres, the Adoration of the Magi in the Saint Louis Art Museum8 and the Massacre of the Innocents in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.9
The Massacre of the Innocents. Germany (Saxony?), mid‑twelfth century. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
These three plaques present similar style and dimensions. Nonetheless, there too, the borders differ from one piece to another. They are traditionally believed to come from a single object, as confirmed by their iconography. The hypothesis that they belong to the same ensemble as the Apostle plaques seems entirely appropriate, but in any case it is certain that they all came from the same workshop, even if they did not belong to the same work.
Yet their attribution poses some problems: the style and palette of the enamels, and certain details, such as the foot of the Saint John, which encroaches on the enamel border, reveal the clear influence of works from the Rhine-Meuse area. However, the very individual drawing style of some of the faces, with their particularly large brows, emphatic features and rounded eyes, or the exaggerated, dramatic quality of the Massacre of the Innocents, make locating the workshop more challenging. In 1929, Borenius has suggested that the plaques in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the one now in Saint Louis were Mosan,10 but since then all of them have more rightly been given to a German workshop, possibly located in Saxony.11
The plaques with Saint Bartholomew (13 × 7.1 cm) and Saint Thomas (12.9 × 7.3 cm), inv. nº17.190.442 and 17.190.443, were both in the collection of Georges Hoentschel before passing to that of J. Pierpont Morgan. The plaques with Saint Jude (13.4 × 6.4 cm) and Saint Simon (13.4 × 6.5 cm), inv. nº41.100.141 and 41.100.142, were in the Stroganoff collection in Rome and then in that of George Blumenthal.
On loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York between 1979 and 2010 (L. 1979.37); Sotheby’s sale, New York, 27 January 2011, lot 389.
Some of these differences are visible, for instance, in the plaques with Saint Bartholomew and Saint Thomas now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. These two pieces have different birders and haloes, but their close resemblance and shared provenance from the Georges Hoentschel collection attest to their common origin. See PÉRATÉ, A., Collection Georges Hoentschel : Émaux du XIIe au XVe siècle, Paris, 1911, nº18‑19, pl. VIII.
See Ostoia, V. K., The Middle Ages, Treasures from The Cloisters and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, exhib. cat. (Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 18 January‑29 March 1970 ; The Art Institute of Chicago, 16 May‑5 July 1970), Los Angeles, 1969, nº44, pp. 98‑99, p. 255.
