Panel illustrating the story of Methuselah (?)

by FitzwilliamMuseum

*texture information available upon request - please write to [email protected]!* Oak, carved and painted wood. Carved with a figure of a man sitting in the top of a tree, he grips a bough with his left hand, his right resting on the same branch, he is being spoken to by an angel in the right hand corner. Beside the trunk stands a young man, who holds in his left hand an axe, clasping a chopped off branch with his right. His right foot rests on a shortened branch, his left on the ground. At the base of the tree is an axe with a broken shaft and in the bottom left hand corner a small house. There is a lettered panel top and bottom and scrolls on the two sides: top panel, MAT(HU)SALE(H) BILD A/HVS;left and right scrolls, IVO BILD A HOV(SE) VORS(ELF) and BR(IN)G VI MIAS BOI SA??;bottom panel, FATHER HOLD Y AX Possibly this panel illustrates the story of Methuselah just before the flood. The lettering at the top seems to be spoken by the angel 'Methuselah build a house', right and left scrolls spoken by Methuselah to the boy (possibly his grandson Noah), seem to be 'I will build a house for us - Bring up my axe boy', and the bottom panel the boy says 'Father hold (or behold) the axe'. Inscriptions:; top of panel; MAT(HU)SALE(H) BILD A/HVS; the lettering at the top seems to be spoken by the angel 'Methuselah build a house'; possibly this panel illustrates the story of Methuselah just before the flood; right and left scrolls; IVO BILD A HOV(SE) VORS(ELF) and BR(IN)G VI MIAS BOI SA??; right and left scrolls spoken by Methuselah to the boy (possibly his grandson Noah), seem to be 'I will build a house for us - Bring up my axe boy'; possibly this panel illustrates the story of Methuselah just before the flood; bottom of panel; FATHER HOLD Y AX; words spoken by the boy to his father, 'Father hold or behold the axe'; possibly this panel illustrates the story of Methuselah just before the flood Images & Text © Copyright 2000-2016, The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambr