Parmentier Panel
The Parmentier Panel – named after it’s original sixteenth century donor, Jehan Parmentier, was exhibited and presented to the Society in December 1886 by the clergyman William Maskell (c. 1814?-1890).
The panel shows the head of Christ at centre, with the kneeling figures of Jehan Parmentier and his wife depicted at either side, being presented to Christ by St John the Baptist and St Peter. At the far left and far right of the panel, the busts of two prophets, linked to the centre of the composition by inscribed scrolls. Analysis of the piece suggests that the smaller figures of the donors and their saints were painted over the original design, turning what had originally been a predella (support) for an altarpiece, into a customised devotional painting.
The inscription on the scroll reads: Jeha parmentier bourgeois de mōd…..[contingent fourni par] sa fāme ont done ceste table des biens que dieu leurs a done en l’en de grasse mil, chinc cens dixnoeufs priez dieu por eux amen (‘Jehan Parmentier, burgher of Mond…. [with the share provided by] his wife, donated this panel with the gifts that God had given them in the year of grace 1519; pray to God for them. Amen’)
