St. Ursula Shrine

The Shrine of St. Ursula is a carved and gilded wooden reliquary containing oil on panel inserts (87x33x91 cm) by Hans Memling. Dating to c. 1489, it is housed in the Hans Memling Museum in the Old St. John's Hospital (Sint-Janshospitaal), Bruges, in the Flemish Region of modern-day Belgium.

The work was commissioned by the Hospital of St. John, the current museum's seat. Differently from other works by Memling, such as the Triptych of the Mystical Marriage of St. Catherine or the Florens Triptych, it is neither signed nor dated. It was a container for Saint Ursula's relics which was shown publicly only on her feast day. The relics were solemnly put in the shrine on 21 November 1489.

Description

The shrine is in the shape of a Gothic chapel, according to a customary format used in goldsmithing. It has a steeply pointed cover, as typical of northern European countries, with three painted tondos on each side. Attributed to Memling's workshop, they depict, on one side, the First Eleven Virgins with the Pope, a Cardinal, a Bishop and Etherius (characters of the saint's legend); on the other side, the Coronation of the Virgin with the Holy Trinity.

The two "façades" contain the representations of the Virgin and Child between Two Nuns (the two donors, including the abbess), and St. Ursula Protecting the Holy Virgins. Both the scenes are embedded within a painted niche which simulates a perspective interior of the shrine.

At the sides, under two small arcades, are six scenes of the life and martyrdom of St. Ursula, which resemble the style of the stained glasses in contemporary churches. They include:

Arrival in Cologne
Arrival in Basel
Arrival in Rome
Leaving from Basel
Martyrdom of the Pilgrims
Martyrdom of St. Ursula

The scenes share the same pictorial background, set in northern German cities (such as Cologne, with the unfinished Cathedral) and painted with great attention to today's life details.

The decoration is completed by the carvings in International Gothic style, including pinnacles, holed friezes and, on the piers at the corners, the saints James, John the Evangelist, Agnes and Elizabeth of Hungary.

Sources

Zuffi, Stefano (2004). Il Quattrocento. Milan: Electa. ISBN 88-370-2315-4.

External links

site presenting the text of the legend of St. Ursula by Jacobus da Varagine and scenes of the St. Ursula shrine painted by Hans Memling (recent pictures)

v t e Hans Memling
Individual religious panels	Virgin and Child Enthroned with two Musical Angels, c. 1467 Scenes from the Passion of Christ, c. 1470 Adoration of the Magi, c. 1471 Mater Dolorosa, c. 1475 Madonna and Child with Angels, c. 1479 Allegory with a Virgin, c. 1479–1480 Advent and Triumph of Christ, c. 1480 Mater Dolorosa, c. 1480 Mystic Marriage of St Catherine, c. 1480 Angel Musicians, 1480s Pagagnotti Triptych, c. 1480 Christ Surrounded by Musician Angels, c. 1480s Annunciation, 1480s Adam and Eve, c. 1485 Bathsheba, c. 1485 Madonna and Child with Saint James and Saint Dominic, c. 1485
Polyptychs	Last Judgment, c. 1467–1471 Diptych of an elderly couple, c. 1470–1472 Diptych of Jean de Cellier, c. 1475 Jan Floreins Altarpiece, 1479 St John Altarpiece, 1479 Adoration of the Magi, c. 1479–1480 Adriaan Reins Altarpiece, 1480 Donne Triptych, c. 1480 Moreel Triptych, 1484 Earthly Vanity and Divine Salvation, c. 1485 Benedetto Portinari Triptych, 1487 Diptych of Maarten van Nieuwenhove, 1487 St. Ursula Shrine, c. 1489 Christ Surrounded by Singing and Music-making Angels, c. 1483–1494
Portraits	Portrait of a Man in a Red Hat, c. 1465–1470 Portrait of a Man, c. 1470–1472 Portrait of Tommaso Portinari, c. 1470–1472 Portrait of Maria Portinari, c. 1470–1472 Portrait of an Elderly Man, c. 1470–1475 Portrait of an Elderly Woman, c. 1470–1475 Portrait of a Man with a Pink Carnation, 1475 Portrait of Benedetto Portinari, 1478 Portrait of Willem Morell, c. 1480 Portrait of a Man with a Roman Medal, c. 1480 Portrait of Barbara van Vlaendenbergh, c. 1480 Sibylla Sambetha, c. 1480 Portrait of Folco Portinari, c. 1490