Monastery
When you visit Museum Krona, it immidiately becomes clear that this is not just a museum of religious art. It is located oin the wing of an ancient abbey that still inhabited by the Birgittinessen sisters. The history history of the abbey and the Birgittinessen run like a threat through the (online) collection of the museum.
Master of 'Koudewater'
In 1443 the followers of Birgitta of Sweden founded a double monastery for sisters and brothers on the Koudewater estate near Rosmalen: the Mariënwater. A large number of statues of saints were made for the monastery by order the sisters of the Order of H. Birgitta of Sweden by a anonymous sculptor ‘Master of Koudewater’. On their flight in 1713, a large part of these works was taken by the sisters to their new abbey in Uden. These art treasures later found their place in the permanent collection of Museum Krona.
Book of Hours with Birgitta
Dead Christ
Front abbey, watercolor 1880
The style of the Master
Characteristic of the style of the Master of Koudewater are the closed eyes, the pointed noses, the faintly smiling spout mounts, the narrow constricted wasp waists with pipe pleats that fan down into more loose, loose-fitting v-folds. All in all, the figures make a somewhat subdued, serene impression.