Tabernacle House Altar with the Adoration of the Shepherds, the Adoration of the Magi, and the Annunciation.
This tabernacle house altar contains reverse-painted glass panels depicting the Adoration of the Shepherds, the Adoration of the Magi, and the Annunciation, which were probably painted in Lombardy in the second half of the sixteenth century. The wooden frame, however, was made in the nineteenth century, probably by Reinhold Vasters (1827-1909) or someone in his workshop. Vasters was a highly skilled German silversmith and goldsmith who for a time served as restorer at the Aachen Cathedral treasury. There, in the spirit of nineteenth-century historicism, he not only restored but also replaced worn or damaged liturgical objects. It is likely that the Lehman tabernacle house altar was made expressly to house a set of sixteenth-century reverse-painted panels. The unified program and the similarity of the style of the painting on the ten rock crystal panels suggest that they were scavenged from a single piece.
Artwork Details
- Title: Tabernacle House Altar with the Adoration of the Shepherds, the Adoration of the Magi, and the Annunciation.
- Artist: Reinhold Vasters (German, Erkelenz 1827–1909 Aachen) (frame)
- Artist: Italian , probably Lombardy, second half 16th century (panels)
- Date: second half 16th century (panels); ca. 1865–90 (frame)
- Medium: Ebony-veneered soft wood, silver gilt, rock crystal, agate, and reverse painted and gilded glass.
- Dimensions: H. 16 1/8 in. (41 cm), w. 8 1/16 in. (20.4 cm), d. 2 3/8 in (6 cm).
- Classification: Glass
- Credit Line: Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
- Object Number: 1975.1.1558
- Curatorial Department: The Robert Lehman Collection
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