Mechelen was an important production site of alabaster reliefs in the 16th century. These small representations were usually taken from the Old and New Testaments and offered the owners of such tableaux the opportunity to seclude themselves in devout meditation for a while at home (or in the monastic cell). The finely carved reliefs were usually glued to wooden panels and framed in papier-mâché. The finish often consisted of polychromed and gilded accents.
00184 Baptism scene
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00185 A king meets monastics or honorary mites
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00186 Birth scene
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00187 Saint Anne
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00188 Message to Mary
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00189 Saint Luke
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00190 Saint Mark
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00191 Parable of the Prodigal Son
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Goa (India), Celao (Sri Lanka), Malacca (Malaysia) and Macao (China) and even as far away as Japan were important trading posts of the Portuguese. In addition to trade, they also brought the Catholic Church there. Local carvers manufactured, according to Western guidelines, Christian cult and (personal) devotional objects in ivory. Very popular were the reclining Child Jesus with index finger at mouth. The pax table in this collection is particularly interesting for its iconography, while the figurine of St. Jerome with his lion clearly betrays an influence from the Far East.
00175 Saint Jerome
00176 Crowned figure
00177 Apostle
00178 Saint John the Baptist
00179 Prior (EN)
00180 Infant Christ lying (large)
00181 Infant Christ lying (small)
00182 Blessing Infant Christ
00183 Pax table
As with paintings, medieval wooden sculptures testify to the connection between art and religion. Large statues and retables were set up in churches for public devotion. Small statues were for personal devotion (like Mechelen "dolls"). The wooden statues and retables were carved from oak or walnut larch by a carver, then polychromed and gilded with variegated colors by a painter. Some of this carving still retains (partially) its painting.
00142 Mary with Child
00144 Prophet
00145 Saint Anthony Abbot
00146 Saint John the Baptist
00148 Saint Domitian or Servaas
00149 Saint Helena
00150 Saint Catherine of Alexandria
00154 Kneeling angel
00155 Mourning Mary
00156 Infant Jesus, hand raised in blessing
00157 Mary and Child with bunch of grapes
00158 Saint Anne
00159 Seated Mary with Infant Jesus
00160 Mary with Child
00162 Seated Mary (without Child)
00163 Female saint with book
00164 Saint Elizabeth of Hungary
00198 Saint Nicholas, part of a staff
00218 Saint Adrian
00219 Saint Rochus
01001a Mary (calvary group)
01001b Saint John (calvary group)
Two particular 15th-century architectural pieces are found in the collection. First, a scale model of a cathedral facade in which a portal, gallery and rose window are very finely carved. Next, an impressive beam decorated with angels holding the coat of arms of Florence. It comes from the facade of the nation house of the Italian city-state in Bruges and dates from 1460-1470. This makes it the only sculpted work in the medieval collection of the castle with a Bruges origin.