Jan Borman, Umkreis Lot n° 11

Jan Borman, Circumcircle Adoration of the Magi Oak wood, three-quarter round and partly open-work carved. Flattened on the back with bevelled edges. Exposed original coloured frame and gilding. The silhouetted relief shows the Mother of God sitting in front of an architectural fragment, holding the infant Jesus on her lap. She is surrounded by the Magi, who are identifiable by their oriental dress; on the unfinished lower edge of the relief there may have been pre-mounted representations of the gifts of the Magi. The relief was probably once part of an altar retable with depictions of the life of the Virgin Mary. The relief, which is extremely attractive and captivating because of its uncovered original version, can be described in its design as a Flemish work from around 1500/1520 and can be placed in the close circle of the Brussels carver Jan Borman; it can be compared, for example, with the sculptural relief of the "Holy Kinship" in the altar reredos from Auderghem (today in Brussels, Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, Inv. No. 327), which is attributed to Jan Borman. Only the left arm of the child and the left hand of the right king lost. Otherwise in good condition. 25 x 23 x 7 cm. Provenance Acquired from a Belgian private collection. Literature Brigitte D'Hainaut-Zveny (ed.), Miroirs du sacré. Les retables sculptés à Bruxelles. XVe-XVIe siècles. Production, formes et usages, Brussels 2005, p. 58.