Tuesday 29 January 2019

Underestimated Entombment by unknown German master

Brussels Art Auctions, from Belgium, sells on 5 February 2019 a "German School, 16th / 17th century" Entombment, estimated at 5,000 to 8,000 Euro.

It is a beautiful painting in the International Gothic style, which one can find all over Western Europe, but this example indeed looks German. It seems unlikely that it would be a 17th century work, it would be very archaic by then, and is much more likely to be early 16th century, or even second half of the 15th century.

There were many masters (known by name or with a notname) in Germany at the time, and I am not very familiar  with most of them, so I have been unable so far to pinpoint an artist or region for this work. Even so, I believe it to be severely underestimated, and think it will easily fetch 25,000 to 30,000 Euro instead.

One artist who has created similar works is Caspar Isenmann (1410-1472), from Colmar (now in France, but art historically situated in Germany).

Another work which matches the one for sale in some aspects (especially the balding man and his clothing) is an altarpiece by Martin Schongauer, also from the Unterlinden Museum in Colmar.

The Virgin in the work for sale strongly reminds me of Flemish examples, e.g. by Quentin Massys (the Lamentation from Museum M in Leuven). But the remainder of the work offered here is more archaic, with its strict horizontality and lack of background, and is closer to Flemish examples like the works of Dieric Bouts (who was popular in Germany).

An Entombment by a Master from Cologne, dated to the first decade of the 16th century and now in the Art Institute of Chicago, also reminds me somewhat of the work for sale.

For comparison, a Spanish example (Pedro Sanchez de Castro) with a similar iconography, including the Gothic panels in the tomb, but a quite different execution.

I have not touched upon depictions of the entombment in other art forms, including miniatures and stained glass windows, and especially the large sculptures one can found in churches in Germany and especially France. But one of these caught my eye, a Grablegung from the Saint Michael Church in Schwäbisch Hall, from 1456. It is probably the closest composition to the one for sale here, with the man at the head, and especially with the position of the hands and feet of Jesus. Whether this is a coincidence or points to a Swabian origin of the painting (considering that the Swabian School was a rather important group of painters in these years) is not clear.



11 comments:

  1. Could this be a later fake... ?

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  2. Yes, that's always possible. The condition is remarkably good. Spotting fakes isn't easy (for me at least), certainly not when judging paintings only from online pictures.

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  3. I asked, and they told me it has ben heavily restored and heavy repainted

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  4. I had a look: unfortunately is there quite a bit of (inpainted) shrinkage, especially to the lighter areas, which unfortunately include the faces (particularly strong in the face of John) and some of the clothing (one bad bit on the beautiful garment of Nicodemus). The restorations are done nicely, but the heavily restored condition might explain the low estimate. I am not certain about the wood - could be lime (?). Painful to see: Someone NAILED INTO the panel eight times to keep it in the frame!

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  5. Dear sirs,how is it possible to make such an analysis without seeing the picture. We have UV photographs to your disposal. We sold this painting in respect for sellers and buyers ,we communicated the right information.Best regards,Brussels Art Auctions

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  6. Dear BA Auctions, it is not clear if your comment here is about my original post, or about the comments by e.g. Tassilo Erhardt (who has seen the picture, judging from their comment). In any case, you are more than welcome to mail me the UV photographs. I'm not really sure how they will show the painting to be e.g. 17th century and not early 16th century though, or what else in my analysis they will contradict.

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  7. This painting has been heavely restored. I saw it in person and it does not convince me. In the best case a late copy or worse...

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  8. Took me time to read all the comments, but I really enjoyed the article.
    yurtdışında master

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  9. @BA Auction: It is possible to me 'to make such an analysis' through the power of vision, i.e., by looking at the painting, front and back and under UV light.

    By the way, the painting is now coming up at Hampel on 27/28 June (as late 15th c.).

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  10. Just unsold at Hampel (EUR 100000-120000 :-O)

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