''Saint Madeleine and Saint Catherine'', also known as ''Saint Catherine and Saint Madeleine'', is a circa 1440

religious painting Religious art is artistic imagery using religious inspiration and motifs and is often intended to uplift the mind to the spiritual. Sacred art involves the ritual and cultic practices and practical and operative aspects of the path of the spiritu ...

by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Gothic art Gothic art was a style of medieval art that developed in Northern France out of Romanesque art in the 12th century AD, led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture. It spread to all of Western Europe, and much of Northern, Southern and ...

ist

Konrad Witz Konrad Witz (1400/1410 probably in Rottweil, Germany – winter 1445/spring 1446 in Basel, in current day Switzerland) was a German painter, active mainly in Basel. His 1444 panel ''The Miraculous Draft of Fishes (Witz), The Miraculous Draft of F ...

. The painting was legated to the city of

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

by the

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western can ...

Alexandre Joseph Straub, and entered the collections in 1893. It is on display in the

Musée de l'Œuvre Notre-Dame The Musée de l'Œuvre Notre-Dame (or Frauenhausmuseum in German) is the city of Strasbourg's museum for Upper Rhenish fine arts and decorative arts, dating from the early Middle Ages until 1681. The museum is famous for its collection of orig ...

. Its inventory number is MBA 97 ("MBA" stands for '' Musée des Beaux-Arts''). The painting represents both saints with their

attributes Attribute may refer to: * Attribute (philosophy), an extrinsic property of an object * Attribute (research), a characteristic of an object * Grammatical modifier, in natural languages * Attribute (computing), a specification that defines a proper ...

(Madeleine's vessel of ointment, and Catherine's wheel and book, here a

girdle book Girdle books were small portable books worn by medieval European monks, clergymen and aristocratic nobles as a popular accessory to medieval costume, between the 13th and 16th centuries. They consisted of a book whose leather binding continued lo ...

). In spite of the sumptuosity of their costumes and jewels, and the preciosity of their golden halos, Witz depicts them with the realistic faces of young peasant women and in a stiff attitude that reminds of play acting. Both saints are sitting in a cloister that is thought to have belonged to

Basel Cathedral Basel Minster (German: ''Basler Münster'') is a religious building in the Swiss city of Basel, originally a Catholic cathedral and today a Reformed Protestant church. The original cathedral was built between 1019 and 1500 in Romanesque and G ...

, and Witz opens his tentative perspective towards a street scene, again depicted with noticeable realism. The painting may have belonged to an unfinished altarpiece (probably a

triptych A triptych ( ; from the Greek language, Greek adjective ''τρίπτυχον'' "''triptukhon''" ("three-fold"), from ''tri'', i.e., "three" and ''ptysso'', i.e., "to fold" or ''ptyx'', i.e., "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) t ...

) but it could also have been autonomous from the start. While the

drapery Drapery is a general word referring to cloths or textiles (Old French , from Late Latin ). It may refer to cloth used for decorative purposes – such as around windows – or to the trade of retailing cloth, originally mostly for clothin ...

displays the influence of contemporary Netherlandish painting, the spatial perspective appears to be Witz's own, pioneering experiment.

References

External links

''Sainte Madeleine et sainte Catherine''
presentation on the museum's website *Jean Wirth
''Remarques sur le tableau de Konrad Witz conservé à Strasbourg''
''Journal of Swiss archeology and art history'' issue 44 (1987). {{Authority control Paintings by Konrad Witz Beaux-Arts 1440s paintings Paintings of Catherine of Alexandria Paintings depicting Mary Magdalene Gothic paintings Books in art Paintings in the collection of the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg