Description
Rhenish school circa 1500 Adoration and donation of a reliquary shrine to monks; reverse: Saint Barbara and a donor - Saint Mary Magdalene Two altarpieces, double-sided panels Height 150 cm; Width: 61 cm Overall dimensions Our two panels were the side panels of a triptych whose central body could not be identified, and which was not necessarily painted, since this middle part, the case, is often carved in Germany. Their rare iconography tells the story of a gilded shrine containing relics, which were probably kept at the altarpiece's place of origin, attracting pilgrimages and hopes of healing the sick. One hypothesis would be to see here a reliquary of Saint Agilolphe, for the abbey of Stavelot-Malmedy, and we know that King Pepin of Herstal, in the 8th century, during various episodes, meditated on his tomb, thus in contact with Benedictine monks. In the 12th century, these relics were transferred from Malmedy to the church of Santa Maria ad Gradus in Cologne.
6
Rhenish school circa 1500 Adoration and donation of a reliquary shrine to monks; reverse: Saint Barbara and a donor - Saint Mary Magdalene Two altarpieces, double-sided panels Height 150 cm; Width: 61 cm Overall dimensions Our two panels were the side panels of a triptych whose central body could not be identified, and which was not necessarily painted, since this middle part, the case, is often carved in Germany. Their rare iconography tells the story of a gilded shrine containing relics, which were probably kept at the altarpiece's place of origin, attracting pilgrimages and hopes of healing the sick. One hypothesis would be to see here a reliquary of Saint Agilolphe, for the abbey of Stavelot-Malmedy, and we know that King Pepin of Herstal, in the 8th century, during various episodes, meditated on his tomb, thus in contact with Benedictine monks. In the 12th century, these relics were transferred from Malmedy to the church of Santa Maria ad Gradus in Cologne.
