The Apostles (frieze)
Author: Unknown
Date: 16th – 18th century
Material: Polychromed gesso on wood
Dimensions (cm): Central panel: H 32 x W 83,5 x D 32 | Lateral panels: H 32 x W 75 x D 35
Provenance: Guimarães, private chapel of the nuns of the Convento de Santa Clara
Inventory No.: MAS E 33
This frieze places a group of thirteen male characters on the same level, the ones on the extremities being angel candleholders, that is to say, angels that hold candles. These two angelic beings have golden wings, long blond hair, they wear a golden tunic and a reddish and golden cloak fastened with a circular brooch. Three of the characters hold open music books and another one holds a candle.
This frieze of The Apostles is a sculptural work attributable to the 16th century and the gesso on wood work is probably from the 18th century. In Guimarães: Guia de Turismo, Alfredo Guimarães indicates the provenance of The Apostles: “the famous frieze of the ‘Apostles’, which belonged to the private chapel of our nuns of Saint Clare, with some flaws as regards construction, but rich in naivety, polychromy and in the exercise of the tempera work, in which it is still excellent”.
