About this
work
Object details
- Title:
- Altarpiece of the Guild of the Old Arbalest
- Date:
- 1590
- Dimensions:
- 368,4 × 594,2 cm, 429,6kg
- Inventory number:
- 72-76
More about this work
Victory!
After several turbulent years during the revolt of the Low Countries, Spanish Catholic forces recaptured Antwerp in 1585. The city’s churches had been severely damaged and looted in the course of the religious troubles and the civic authorities now ordered the local guilds to spare no expense in restoring their damaged altars. This meant new paintings too. Maerten de Vos and his studio played a leading role in the restoration campaign, not least in Antwerp’s cathedral.
De Vos painted this monumental triptych for the Guild of the ‘Old Arbalest’, a company of crossbowmen, a militia company. Its central panel shows the resurrected Christ triumphing over sin and death, symbolised by the dragon and the skull which he is trampling beneath his feet. Christ’s orb and staff are references to his dominion. Seated at his feet, the Apostles Peter and Paul are each holding a volume of the New Testament containing Christ’s glad tidings.
Each guild had a patron saint, which in the case of the Old Arbalest was St George. The secondary theme of the altarpiece thus consists of scenes from the legend of St George. The saint can be seen on the far left of the central panel opposite the Princess of Silene, the wo an he rescued from the dragon.
Her father, the king, promptly converted to Christianity and was baptised, along with his entire population. This part of the story is shown in the left-hand panel, while the one on the right depicts the building, in gratitude, of a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
The message here is the victory of the Church and the true faith. Catholicism is shown triumphing over death and evil in what is undoubtedly an allusion to the religious conflict that continued to rage in De Vos’ time.
After several turbulent years during the revolt of the Low Countries, Spanish Catholic forces recaptured Antwerp in 1585. The city’s churches had been severely damaged and looted in the course of the religious troubles and the civic authorities now ordered the local guilds to spare no expense in restoring their damaged altars. This meant new paintings too. Maerten de Vos and his studio played a leading role in the restoration campaign, not least in Antwerp’s cathedral.
De Vos painted this monumental triptych for the Guild of the ‘Old Arbalest’, a company of crossbowmen, a militia company. Its central panel shows the resurrected Christ triumphing over sin and death, symbolised by the dragon and the skull which he is trampling beneath his feet. Christ’s orb and staff are references to his dominion. Seated at his feet, the Apostles Peter and Paul are each holding a volume of the New Testament containing Christ’s glad tidings.
Each guild had a patron saint, which in the case of the Old Arbalest was St George. The secondary theme of the altarpiece thus consists of scenes from the legend of St George. The saint can be seen on the far left of the central panel opposite the Princess of Silene, the wo an he rescued from the dragon.
Her father, the king, promptly converted to Christianity and was baptised, along with his entire population. This part of the story is shown in the left-hand panel, while the one on the right depicts the building, in gratitude, of a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
The message here is the victory of the Church and the true faith. Catholicism is shown triumphing over death and evil in what is undoubtedly an allusion to the religious conflict that continued to rage in De Vos’ time.
Acquisition history
handed over by: Ecole Centrale du Département des Deux-Nèthes, 1810
Copyright and legal
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