Seal matrix from St. Katharinenthal (canton of Thurgau)

Description

The former Dominican convent of St. Katharinenthal, a jewel of Baroque architecture, lies nestling in the peaceful Rhine valley between Lake Constance and Schaffhausen. Founded between 1242 and 1246, the convent was dissolved in 1869 by the canton of Thurgau. St. Katharinenthal, a centre of mysticism in the Upper Rhine and the owner of works of art of outstanding quality (graduals, a famous image of Christ and St John), experienced a late heyday in the Baroque period. The dissolution of the convent resulted in its movable art treasures being scattered to the corners of the world. In 1903 the Museum bought several seals, including this superb matrix. The picture on the seal shows the Virgin and Child, St Dominic and a female saint, most probably the patron saint of the convent, St Catherine. The three figures are standing on pedestals, with the two saints set a little farther back, so appearing smaller than the Virgin. The bodies are slightly curved, so fitting into the vesica shape of the seal. In spite of the rich drapery and the play between falling and gathered folds, the figures have a sense of corporeality. The seal engraver, who almost certainly came from Constance, must have been familiar with contemporary sculpture in French cathedrals.