Virgin with Baby Jesus and Angels
MASTER OF THE MORRISON TRIPTYCH
Oil on Panel. 67,8 cm. x 45,7 cm. 1505 ca.
According to Friedlander, it is known that this work is by the Master of the Morrison Triptych who was a loyal follower of Quentin Massys. As of today, the artist has not been identified despite utilizing an easily recognizable pictorial character. This exquisitely executed panel represents Virgin Mary with Baby Jesus in her arms while she is showing him a book. The background of the composition has four angels, who are holding a cloth as backdrop. To the right, there is a landscape with trees and a winding river that is lost on the horizon and to the left a building. All these elements are very common and characterize Flemish primitive paintings. The use of vivid reds, blues, and greens combine with the whites, light blues, and overall give the composition a very lively tone.
This work belonged to the Henle Collection, a very important collection composed of Antique Master paintings.
Gunter and Anne Liese started their collection of Old Master paintings in the 1950s. They were experts when it came to selecting and putting together a high quality works. The majority of the collection is composed of Dutch and Flemish pieces, some primitive. Frequently, the collectors invited historians and scholars to study their works. Art historians such as Edouard Plietzsch visited the collection and aided their project during the 1950s and 1960s. However, the Henle Collection was practically unknown until 1964, when forty-seven works made their appearance at an exhibition at the Wallraf-Richarz Museum in Cologne. The collection remains largely intact, but one prominent outlier is a painting by Rubens that represents David and Abigail, which can be found at the Getty Museum in Malibu. Gunter and Anne Liese Henle married in 1933 after careers as diplomats in South Africa, London, and the Netherlands. It was in the last post, where the couple discovered their love for Dutch XVI art. Both of them were classical music lovers as well as very involved with visual arts. Gunter was an excellent pianist and was able to play along Yehudi Mnuhin and Edith Peinemann in public concerts. Furthermore, in 1948 he founded a company in Monaco called G. Henle Verlag, that specialized in publishing original scores such as works by Haydn and Beethoven as a collaboration with the Haydn Institute in Cologne and the Beethovenhaus in Bonn.After World War II, Gunter Henle became a politician and served as Minister of Foreign Affairs. When he retired from politics, he maintained some of his business ventures and spent most of his time augmenting his art collection. The Henle’s biography has been exclusively published in English and is titled The Three Spheres. Anne Liese Henle was a devout Catholic, which undoubtedly influenced her love for Italian paintings. The couple collected paintings, furniture, carpets, antique watches, and porcelain.
The artist of this beautiful painting, whose proper name has historically been unkown, was active in Antwerp until the beginning of the XVI century. Stylistically the figures resemble those by Hans Memling, even though some experts such as M. J. Friedländer and Silver associate them with those of Quintin Massys and other painters from Bruges. Since the artist’s name is unknown, he is known as The Master of the Morrison Triptych, named for the Morrison Triptych, an altarpiece in triptych or three-paneled form, by the master and probably painted around 1500. The work is named for an earlier owner, the British collector Alfred Morrison, and is now in the Toledo Museum of Art in Toledo, Ohio. Indeed, the Virgin who occupies the central part of the composition shows notable resemblances with the early works of Q. Massys and that can be found at the National Gallery in London. The Jesus portrayed in that work is identical to ours shown here; both contemplate a book. Some art historians such as De Bosque have dated the work to circa 1505 and have attributed it to Adriaen Skilleman, a member of the Massys’ studio. In any case, it is known that is from the strong artistic personality of the artist. The Virgin within the piece, both because of style and pose, presents very evident similarities with the figures by the Master of the Morrison Triptych in his work preserved in Ohio. The angels that frame the Virgin and the paintings orientation remind the viewer to works in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Brussels.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Sammlung Henle, “Catalogue by Horst Very, introduction by Gert von der Osten”
- “Colonia”, 1964, Die, exhibition in Colonia, Wallraf Richartz Museum. 22 Febrero -5
- De Rober, Bayendofer, “Catalogue of the Germanisches National Museum Núremberg”, 3a Edición 1893,p. 45
- De Rober, Bayendofer, “Catalogue ofThe Germanisches National Museum Núremberg”, 4a edición 1909 n° 15 (75)
- G. Gluck, “Beitrage zur Geschichte der antwerpner Malerei im XVI. Jahrhundert” in Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen der llerhochsten Kaiserhouses”, Vol. XXII, 1901 , p.5,6
- F. Winkler, “Die Altniedelandische Maleri, die Malerei, in Belgien und Holland von” 1400-1600,1924, p. 129
- M.J. Friedlander, “Die Altiederlandishe Malerei”, Vol. VII, Ed. 1929, p.85, n” 88, plate
- M.J. Friedlander , in Arts News, 1946, p.24
- W.R. Valentuunier, “Simom Van Herlam, the Master ofthe Morrison Triptych”. In Gazzete des Beaux-Arts, January1955, p.6-10
- P. wescher, “Beitrage zu Simon Van Harlem, dem Meister des Morrison Triptychons”, Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen, p.175.187,n° 2
- M.J. Friedlander, Early Netherlandish Painting”, Ed 1975, Vol VII: Quentin Massys, p.70 n088, plate 75
- De Bosque, “Quinten Metsys”, 1975, p.116-119, fig. 43, as workshop of Quentin Massys
- L. Silver, “The painting of Quinten Massys”, 1984, p. 195, under cat.N.3, como el Maestro del Tríptico Morrison
PROVENANCE
- José Fernández Huerta Collection, Spain.
- Consul of Bamberge Collection, Germany.
- German Museum of Nuremberg, 1879 – 1924, Germany.
- Mayrin, Nuremberg, 1954.
- Henle Duisburg Collection, 1997.
MUSEUMS
Master of the Morrison Triptych’s works can be found in many museums around the world including: Brussels- Musee Royaux, London- National Gallery, Toledo (Ohio)- Museum of Art.
EXHIBITIONS
- Madrid, Soraya Cartategui Gallery, University Francisco de Vitoria and City Hall of Pozuelo, “Sky and Earth” Sacred and Profane Art of the Netherlands, April 7th – May 4th, 2011.
- Madrid, Soraya Cartategui Gallery, Feriarte, November 2014.