Four Scenes from the Legend of St Elizabeth of Hungary

Entry

This panel shows four scenes from the early life of St Elizabeth of Thuringia, more commonly known as St Elizabeth of Hungary (1207-31), when she was still living with her parents King Andrew II of Hungary and Gertrudis van Andechs-Meranië in Presburg, present-day Bratislava. The prominent inscription below the scenes explains the scenes, which are separated by architectonic frames and should be read clockwise from bottom left. The first one shows the Hungarian royal couple and ambassadors from Thuringia finalising the arranged marriage of their daughter, who is still lying in her cradle but is already identified as a saint by her halo. The same emissaries returned to collect Elizabeth three years later, this time accompanied by a woman, and are being received by the royal couple at top left. To the right is the banquet held in their honour, with the young Elizabeth seated between her parents. The envoys are on the right. In the right foreground of the painting Elizabeth takes leave of her parents by the gate of Presburg, on which are painted the name of the city and a coat of arms. The dowry that Elizabeth was given has been handed to the emissaries, and the carriage waits for her to board it. The arms of Thuringia are depicted on the carriage. In the background it is seen leaving for the Wartburg in Eisenach accompanied by an armed guard.² Elizabeth spent the rest of her childhood there, and in 1221 she married Louis IV of Thuringia.³

Kneeling outside the architectonic framework in the left foreground is a woman with her hands joined in prayer and a rosary hanging from her girdle. These elements denote her piety, but her clothing shows that she is not a nun. She is wearing a partlet, which could be dated c. 1510. She was probably the donatrix of the painting. It is not known who she is, because her coat of arms in the centre foreground has not yet been identified.⁴ These rarely depicted scenes of the early life of St Elizabeth may have had a special significance for her. It is also possible, though, that this work was originally part of a series with more scenes from the saint’s life.⁵

The inscription, which is on a white ground, is reminiscent of others on memorial tablets, which usually refer to the person or persons being commemorated. Here, though, the text merely itemises the scenes and does not mention the woman. Unless the panel was part of a larger work it is unlikely to have served as a memorial tablet.⁶

The artist of the panel is unknown, and there are no other works that can be attributed to him. This one is traditionally placed in the northern Netherlands on the evidence of its style and manner of execution. The rather clumsy depiction, which has few parallels with other works, makes it impossible to narrow down the location any more closely.

The letters ‘m’ and ‘d’ in the coat of arms in the foreground could be interpreted as the date 1500. The dendrochronology does not rule that out if one assumes a relatively short drying time for the panel.⁷
MW