Lot 32: Attributed to Matthieu van Beveren (1630-1690) Flemish, Antwerp, 2nd half 17th century , crucifix boxwood

the titulus inscribed in Hebrew, Greek and Latin in black ink; on an associated wood cross boxwood

measurements note christ: 52 by 41cm., 20½ by 16 1/8 in. cross: 77 by 49cm., 30¼ by 19¼in.

Grabski, J. (ed.), Opus sacrum. From the collection of Barbara Piasecka Johnson, exh. cat. Royal Castle Warsaw, 1990, cat. 72, pp. 359-361

F.J. Peters collection, the Netherlands
Sotheby's New York, 2 March 1984, lot 118

This unusually large Netherlandish boxwood crucifix is the most spectacular sculpture of its kind to be offered on the market in a quarter of a century. Its physiognomy and anatomy, and the drapery style of its perizonium are closely related to a slightly smaller corpus, which was acquired by the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1982 with a tentative attribution to Matthieu van Beveren (accession no. 82.SD.138). But since no signed or documented crucifixes by van Beveren are known so far, attributions in this field remain hypothical, and are the subject of scholarly discussion. Christian Theuerkauff, for instance, excludes the Getty crucifix from the master's oeuvre. However, the facial type of Christ offered here shows certain resemblances to the Pieta in Brussels (Musees Royaux d'Art et de l'Histoire) and to the 53.5 cm high boxwood Crucifix in the Vleeshuis, Antwerp, both of which have also been attributed to van Beveren. Its drapery details moreover resemble those on the mantle of an ivory Immaculata attributed to van Beveren (Brussels, Musees Royaux d'Art et de l'Histoire, inv. no. Sc. 102). But the present Crucifix stands out from all these comparanda by the sheer energy and vastness of its drapery movement. Together with the naturalistic rendering of physical details of suffering - such as the veins on the surface of the arms, legs and the abdomen - the carving creates a dense and highly expressive image, which must have been sculpted by one of the most gifted hands of its age. RELATED LITERATURE C. Theuerkauff, 'Addenda to the Small-Scale Sculpture of Matthieu van Beveren of Antwerp,' The Metropolitan Museum of Art Journal XXIII, 1988, pp. 125-147.