Lot No. 24 -


Jobst Harrich


Jobst Harrich - Old Master Paintings

(Nuremberg 1579–1617)
Christ among the Doctors,
monogrammed lower right in the metal fitting of the book: FH or HF, inscribed upper centre: 1512,
oil on panel, 74 x 83 cm, framed

Provenance:
probably with Hans Moller, Minden/Westphalia, 1937;
Private Northern European collection

Literature:
probably F. Winkler, Dürer, Des Meisters Gemälde, Kupferstiche und Holzschnitte (Klassiker der Kunst, vol. 4), Berlin 1928, p. 412;
T. Schauerte, Das Madrider Tafelbild Christus unter den Schriftgelehrten in der Sammlung Thyssen-Bornemisza und seine Stellung zum Werk Albrecht Dürers, in: Dürer-Jahrbuch des Germanischen Nationalmuseums, Nuremberg 2009, 2, pp. 245, 257, note 65

We are grateful to Rainer Stüwe for his assistance in cataloguing after examining the present painting in the original. A written analysis accompanies the present painting.

The present painting is one of six versions, all of which are free interpretations – Thomas Schauerte refers to them as “paraphrases” – of a painting probably by the hand of Albrecht Dürer which is now preserved in Madrid. The other five versions known today are by Hans Hoffmann and Jobst Harrich: “Five painted paraphrases currently documented to which further similar paintings might be added, whose existence and present whereabouts would still have to be researched” (T. Schauerte, see literature, p. 245):

1) Hans Hoffmann (dated 1512, Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Braunschweig);
2) Hans Hoffmann (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna);
3) Hans Hoffmann (National Museum, Warsaw);
4) Jobst Harrich (circa 1617, Collection Fürst zu Salm-Salm, Anholt); 5) Hans Hoffmann (dated 1527, formerly owned by the House of Hanover, Marienburg Castle).

Dürer’s authorship for the painting in Madrid, which has only been documented since 1624, has recently been contested. In addition to mentioning a number of stylistic objections, Schauerte (op. cit.) has also pointed out that the reception of the composition in Madrid only began with the Dürer Renaissance around 1600, which is unusual for a work by Dürer.

Around circa 1570–1630, European art saw a revival in the interest in Albrecht Dürer’s painting. The period in question would later be referred to as the “Dürer Renaissance”. This praise of Dürer’s art characteristically expressed itself in numerous variants of the artist’s known works and emulations of his style. Nuremberg and Prague were the two centres of this retrospective reverence for the great master, because a large number of his works were kept in Dürer’s native town and in the collections of Emperor Rudolf II in Prague. Thomas Schauerte places particular emphasis on this connection: “The five interpretations known to date in which the subject matter was treated by Hans Hoffmann and Jobst Harrich before and after 1600 hark back, with various degrees of intensity, to the body of Dürer’s chiaroscuro studies from the years 1506–8, most of which were then preserved in the collection of Emperor Rudolf II in Prague Castle. Disregarding Sadeler’s engravings reproducing Dürer’s works, there can only have been a limited circle of artists who had access to the entire material” (Schauerte, op. cit., p. 245).

The present painting bears strong resemblances to Hoffmann’s version in Braunschweig. Among the sources by Dürer used here are the hand studies for the architect in the Feast of the Rosary and, as a dual paraphrase, the engraved portrait of Willibald Pirckheimer from 1524. Moreover, distinct inspirations come from Saints Peter and Paul in the Four Apostles in Munich from 1526. The most conspicuous differences with regards to the Madrid painting can be observed in the physiognomy and drapery of the Christ Child, which have largely been reinvented, as well as in the considerably larger number of figures, and in the table top, which frames the composition towards the spectator. The documentation in the Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Braunschweig, contains Schauerte’s published reference to three further versions of the composition. One of the versions mentioned is the present painting. F. Winkler (op. cit.) mentions a replica dated 1512 that was once owned by C. A. Ward, London, as well as a further replica dated 1512 that was formerly with Hans Moller in Minden, Westphalia, and which bears the initials FH in the metal fitting of the book binding. This latter version is most likely identical to the present painting.

Based on stylistic analysis, Rainer Stüwe is convinced that the present painting was painted by Jobst Harrich. The scroll depicts a text that cannot be deciphered and most probably only serves as decoration. However, one line can be read as: “fec. J.o Harrach”. Harrich, together with Hans Hoffmann, is one of the best-known protagonists of the Dürer Renaissance active in Nuremberg. He was commissioned to copy several of Dürers artwork; He copied the Paumgartner altarpiece before the original was sent to the Duke Maximilian of Bavaria, as well as the Frankfurt Heller altarpiece, which too had been acquired by Duke Maximilian. As the originals have been destroyed in the Munich residence fire in 1729, Harrichs copy is the only faithful replica of this now lost masterpiece.

The present painting may be compared to Harrichs most famous painting: Christ and the woman taken in adultery, Musée du Louvre (Inv. Nr. RF 1968-7; oil on copper 73.5 x 84 cm). It features very similar types and physiognomies and has an almost identical format.

Specialist: Dr. Alexander Strasoldo Dr. Alexander Strasoldo
+43-1-515 60-556

alexander.strasoldo@dorotheum.at

25.04.2017 - 18:00

Realized price: **
EUR 297,018.-
Estimate:
EUR 50,000.- to EUR 70,000.-

Jobst Harrich


(Nuremberg 1579–1617)
Christ among the Doctors,
monogrammed lower right in the metal fitting of the book: FH or HF, inscribed upper centre: 1512,
oil on panel, 74 x 83 cm, framed

Provenance:
probably with Hans Moller, Minden/Westphalia, 1937;
Private Northern European collection

Literature:
probably F. Winkler, Dürer, Des Meisters Gemälde, Kupferstiche und Holzschnitte (Klassiker der Kunst, vol. 4), Berlin 1928, p. 412;
T. Schauerte, Das Madrider Tafelbild Christus unter den Schriftgelehrten in der Sammlung Thyssen-Bornemisza und seine Stellung zum Werk Albrecht Dürers, in: Dürer-Jahrbuch des Germanischen Nationalmuseums, Nuremberg 2009, 2, pp. 245, 257, note 65

We are grateful to Rainer Stüwe for his assistance in cataloguing after examining the present painting in the original. A written analysis accompanies the present painting.

The present painting is one of six versions, all of which are free interpretations – Thomas Schauerte refers to them as “paraphrases” – of a painting probably by the hand of Albrecht Dürer which is now preserved in Madrid. The other five versions known today are by Hans Hoffmann and Jobst Harrich: “Five painted paraphrases currently documented to which further similar paintings might be added, whose existence and present whereabouts would still have to be researched” (T. Schauerte, see literature, p. 245):

1) Hans Hoffmann (dated 1512, Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Braunschweig);
2) Hans Hoffmann (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna);
3) Hans Hoffmann (National Museum, Warsaw);
4) Jobst Harrich (circa 1617, Collection Fürst zu Salm-Salm, Anholt); 5) Hans Hoffmann (dated 1527, formerly owned by the House of Hanover, Marienburg Castle).

Dürer’s authorship for the painting in Madrid, which has only been documented since 1624, has recently been contested. In addition to mentioning a number of stylistic objections, Schauerte (op. cit.) has also pointed out that the reception of the composition in Madrid only began with the Dürer Renaissance around 1600, which is unusual for a work by Dürer.

Around circa 1570–1630, European art saw a revival in the interest in Albrecht Dürer’s painting. The period in question would later be referred to as the “Dürer Renaissance”. This praise of Dürer’s art characteristically expressed itself in numerous variants of the artist’s known works and emulations of his style. Nuremberg and Prague were the two centres of this retrospective reverence for the great master, because a large number of his works were kept in Dürer’s native town and in the collections of Emperor Rudolf II in Prague. Thomas Schauerte places particular emphasis on this connection: “The five interpretations known to date in which the subject matter was treated by Hans Hoffmann and Jobst Harrich before and after 1600 hark back, with various degrees of intensity, to the body of Dürer’s chiaroscuro studies from the years 1506–8, most of which were then preserved in the collection of Emperor Rudolf II in Prague Castle. Disregarding Sadeler’s engravings reproducing Dürer’s works, there can only have been a limited circle of artists who had access to the entire material” (Schauerte, op. cit., p. 245).

The present painting bears strong resemblances to Hoffmann’s version in Braunschweig. Among the sources by Dürer used here are the hand studies for the architect in the Feast of the Rosary and, as a dual paraphrase, the engraved portrait of Willibald Pirckheimer from 1524. Moreover, distinct inspirations come from Saints Peter and Paul in the Four Apostles in Munich from 1526. The most conspicuous differences with regards to the Madrid painting can be observed in the physiognomy and drapery of the Christ Child, which have largely been reinvented, as well as in the considerably larger number of figures, and in the table top, which frames the composition towards the spectator. The documentation in the Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Braunschweig, contains Schauerte’s published reference to three further versions of the composition. One of the versions mentioned is the present painting. F. Winkler (op. cit.) mentions a replica dated 1512 that was once owned by C. A. Ward, London, as well as a further replica dated 1512 that was formerly with Hans Moller in Minden, Westphalia, and which bears the initials FH in the metal fitting of the book binding. This latter version is most likely identical to the present painting.

Based on stylistic analysis, Rainer Stüwe is convinced that the present painting was painted by Jobst Harrich. The scroll depicts a text that cannot be deciphered and most probably only serves as decoration. However, one line can be read as: “fec. J.o Harrach”. Harrich, together with Hans Hoffmann, is one of the best-known protagonists of the Dürer Renaissance active in Nuremberg. He was commissioned to copy several of Dürers artwork; He copied the Paumgartner altarpiece before the original was sent to the Duke Maximilian of Bavaria, as well as the Frankfurt Heller altarpiece, which too had been acquired by Duke Maximilian. As the originals have been destroyed in the Munich residence fire in 1729, Harrichs copy is the only faithful replica of this now lost masterpiece.

The present painting may be compared to Harrichs most famous painting: Christ and the woman taken in adultery, Musée du Louvre (Inv. Nr. RF 1968-7; oil on copper 73.5 x 84 cm). It features very similar types and physiognomies and has an almost identical format.

Specialist: Dr. Alexander Strasoldo Dr. Alexander Strasoldo
+43-1-515 60-556

alexander.strasoldo@dorotheum.at


Buyers hotline Mon.-Fri.: 10.00am - 5.00pm
old.masters@dorotheum.at

+43 1 515 60 403
Auction: Old Master Paintings
Auction type: Saleroom auction
Date: 25.04.2017 - 18:00
Location: Vienna | Palais Dorotheum
Exhibition: 15.04. - 25.04.2017


** Purchase price incl. charges and taxes(Country of delivery: Austria)

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