The Death of Saint Clare
Master of Heiligenkreuz·c. 1400/1410
Historical Context
The Death of Saint Clare by the Master of Heiligenkreuz, painted around 1400-1410, depicts the foundress of the Poor Clares order on her deathbed, attended by nuns and visited by a heavenly host. This anonymous painter, named after panels from the Heiligenkreuz monastery in Austria, represents the refined International Gothic style that flourished in Central European courts. The intimate scene reflects the intense devotional culture of female religious communities.
Technical Analysis
The oil on panel shows the elegant, refined technique of the International Gothic style, with sinuous linear rhythms, delicate facial expressions, and richly patterned fabrics. The gold ground and graceful figural arrangements create a jewel-like surface of extraordinary decorative beauty.
Provenance
Possibly the Convent of the Poor Clares, Eger (Cheb), Bohemia (now Czechoslovakia), or Eger (Erlau), Hungary.[1] (Karl Schäfer, Munich); (Walter Schnackenberg, Munich), 1921/1922-1951;[2] in 1943 a one-third share was acquired from Schnackenberg by Carl Langbehn, Munich, and passed by inheritance to his mother, Marta Langbehn.[3] owned jointly by (Seiler & Co., Walter Schnackenberg, and Alfred Müller, Munich);[4] sold 1951 to (M. Knoedler & Co., New York, with Pinakos, Inc. [Rudolf Heinemann]);[5] purchased 1951 by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[6] gift 1952 by exchange to NGA. [1] Alfred Stange, _Deutsche Malerei der Gotik_, 11 vols., Berlin and Munich, 1934-1961: 11:4. In a letter of 13 February 1965 to Fern Rusk Shapley, in NGA curatorial files, Stange gave Prince Joseph Clemens of Bavaria as the source, but noted that while there was a convent of the Poor Clares in Bohemian Eger in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, Clemens did not specify Czechoslovakia or Hungary and so both were possible. There is no verification for the statement in Colin Eisler, _Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools Excluding Italian_, Oxford, 1977: 234, that the panel may have belonged to the Kings of Saxony. [2] English translation of Walter Schnackenberg letter of 12 April 1951 in files of M. Knoedler & Co., New York, giving date of acquisition from Karl Schäfer. Stange's letter of 13 February 1965 also mentions Schäfer as handling the painting. [3] Schnackenberg letter of 12 April 1951. Carl and Marta Langbehn are listed as owners in a Knoedler brochure, in NGA curatorial files. [4] M. Knoedler & Co. account book. [5] M. Knoedler & Co. account book. [6] See The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/2142.
