The Saint Elizabeth’s Day Flood

Master of the Saint Elizabeth Panels (active c. 1490-1495), Northern Netherlands (Dordrecht?), c. 1490–1495, oil on panel

On the night of 19 November 1421 – the feast day of Saint Elizabeth – much of Holland was flooded. The Dordrecht region was badly hit: 23 villages were submerged and 2,000 people died. The survivors later had an altarpiece made. The outer panels depict the disaster, with the breach of the dike on the right and the undamaged town of Dordrecht on the left.

Artwork typepainting
Object numberSK-A-3147-B
Dimensionsheight 127.5 cm x width 110.5 cm x height 126 cm x width 109 cm
Physical characteristicsolieverf op paneel

Identification

Title(s)
The Saint Elizabeth’s Day Flood
Former title
De Sint Elisabethsvloed, 18-19 november 1421 met de stad Dordrecht op de achtergrond
Object type
Object number
SK-A-3147-B
Inscriptions / marks
inscription, inscribed throughout the painting: ‘drijmelen (Drimmelen) // int moer[?] // almonde // de swalu (Zwaluwe) // munster kerc // dubbelmond (Dubbelmonde) // wieldrecht // maes (Maas) // almcvoet (Almsvoet) // strien (Strijen) // cillershoec (Cillaarshoek) // de dubbel (the river Dubbel) // alloeissen (Alloysen) // maesdam (Maasdam) // de we (de Wey) // de hoec (Puttershoek) // de mijl (de Mijl) // soeneken…er[?]’
Description
On the night of 19 November 1421 – the feast day of Saint Elizabeth – much of Holland was flooded. The Dordrecht region was badly hit: 23 villages were submerged and 2,000 people died. The survivors later had an altarpiece made. The outer panels depict the disaster, with the breach of the dike on the right and the undamaged town of Dordrecht on the left.
Part of catalogue
Catalogue reference
Strijd tegen het water / In: 20 Eeuwen Nederland en de Nederlanders - Waanders Uitgevers 1998, afl. 1, pag. 12.

Creation

Creation
painter: Meester van de Heilige Elisabeth-Panelen, Northern Netherlands
Dating
c. 1490 - c. 1495
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Material and technique

Physcial description
olieverf op paneel
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height 127.5 cm x width 110.5 cm x height 126 cm x width 109 cm

This work is about

Subject
Place

Acquisition and rights

Credit line
Purchased with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt
Acquisition
purchase 1933-12
Ownership
Copyright
Public domain
Provenance
See the provenance for SK-A-3145.
Remarks
Please note that this provenance was formulated with a special focus on provenance research for the years 1933-45 and could therefore be incomplete. There may be more (mostly earlier) provenance information known in the museum. In case this item has an uncertain or incomplete provenance for the years 1933-45, the Rijksmuseum welcomes information and assistance in the investigation and clarification of the provenance of all works during that era.

Documentation

- Strijd tegen het water / In: 20 Eeuwen Nederland en de Nederlanders - Waanders Uitgevers 1998, afl. 1, pag. 12.
- De watersnood van 1421 / Jean Baptist Bedaux - In: Vitrine: museummagazine 3/95, pag. 13.
- De waterstaat/ Tom van der Meer - In: Rijksmuseum Kunstkrant, jrg. 25, maart-april 1999, nr. 2, pag.4-10.
- De Elisabethsvloed en het altaar van de Wieldrechtenaren in de Grote Kerk van Dordrecht / Liesbeth M. Helmus - In: Kwartaal & Teken 18/1992 (verkorte en aangepaste versie van 1991-nr. 2).
- "’So grot overvlot der watere’. Een bijdrage in het moderne multidisciplinaire onderzoek naar de St. Elisabethsvloed en de periode die daaraan vooraf ging”/ P. Cleveringa e.a. - In: Holland 36/3 (2004), pp. 162-180.
- Inzoomer object op zaal, 2013 (Nederlands/English).
- G. Simpson, The Pine Standard Chest in St Margaret's Church, King's Lynn, and the Social and Economic Significance of the Type, in: King's Lynn and the Fens: medieval art, architecture and archaeology, British Archaeological Association Conference Transactions XXXI (2008), p. 60, fig. 5

Related objects

Persistent URL

To refer to this object, please use the following persistent URL:
https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200109491