A Masterly Hand / Scientia Artis 9

reminiscent of those on the mantle of the Liège Virgin in terms of proportion and arrangem ent. 33 Fu rthermore, the Gaasbeek Virgin’s gilded mantle has a blue lining patterned with staggered rows of short gold lines that call to mind the design of blue and gold sgraffito rectangles on the Liège Virgin’s under- gown, which can also be seen in later Antwerp altarpieces such as those in Opitter (St Trudo’s Church) and Roubaix (St Martin’s Church) (1530-15 40). 34 In the Gaasbeek Passion Altarpiece, the juxtaposition of red and brown glazes belongs to the original range of colours. A work contemporary to the Liège Virgin, the Passion Altarpiece of Herbais- sous-Piétrain (Brussels, Royal Museums of Art and History, inv. 4009), also offers elements of comparison: borders with letters rendered in both sgraffito and pa int. 35 O ther similarities are the lining of the Virgin’s cloak with a net- work of lozenges in sgraffito and the palmettes in the borders. The Oplinter Altarpiece evidences the near-systematic use of borders with letters painted on a stippled backgrou nd. 36 Th e large and lustrous pearls that adorn the edge of the Virgin’s cloak are also present in the polychromy of Antwerp altarpieces, as illustrated by a fragment of a Circumcision scene in the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels (inv. 29 17). 37 T he motif of fine parallel lines in sgraffito , varying from blue to violet to create a moiré effect and used in the polychromy of the Liège Virgin for the representation of the light fabric in which the Virgin holds the naked Child is another element commonly found in Antwerp altarpieces, more particularly for altar cloths, Christ’s robe in ­ Passion scenes and turbans. The comparison of techniques and motifs can be extended to the statuettes from Mechel en. 38 Th e first of the Mechelen-carved sculptures that were poly- chromed in Brussels by Master I*T between 1500 and 1515 are characterised by the use of applied brocade, especially the narrow applied brocade braid on the borders of gilded clo aks. 39 L ater, Mechelen workshops carried out both the carving and the polychromy. In all probability Mechelen polychromers continued to use applied brocade until around 1515, albeit no longer for the borders of gilded cloaks, which now were often ornamented with sgraffito motifs or lettering. Punched multi-dot line backgrounds also began to appear and from the 1520s onwards this became the commonly-used technique for borders. These stippled borders are ornamented with a painted decoration comparable to that of the Liège Virgin, with palmettes and letters painted in red or blue, alternating with various painted flowers and strawberries ( fig. 14.14). The strawberries, which are very accurately depicted, are character- istic of statuettes from Mechelen. It would be tempting to see strawberries as typical of Mechelen production, but they are also painted on the two afore- mentioned Lamentation fragments in the Louvre, which are attributed to an Antwerp worksh op. 40 F urthermore, strawberries are included in decorative patterns used in contemporary tapestries and miniatures, as exemplified by the Mayer van den Bergh Breviary ( fig. 14.15). 14.14 Fig. 14.14 St Anne with the Virgin and Child, walnut, 41.5 cm, Mechelen, c. 1520, Uden, Museum voor Religieuze Kunst, inv. 2212 (loan from Hilvarenbeek, Church of St Peter-in-Chains), detail Fig. 14.15 Mayer van den Bergh Breviary, Antwerp, Mayer van den Bergh Museum, fol. 584 14.15