German or Flemish painter from the Dürer Renaissance period
(active around 1600)
Madonna
Mary sitting on a bench in a window recess, wearing a long red dress and a blue and red cloak, holding the child to her right cheek; a small bird on the windowsill, through the window a landscape view of a cloudy, light blue sky, trees and a round tower. The composition of the figure is based on Albrecht Dürer's copperplate engraving "Holy Family with the Dragonfly", created around 1495. By omitting Joseph and transferring the Madonna to an architectural context in which the landscape only plays a subordinate role, the depiction is not only given a different context, but also a significantly different pictorial expression focused on the Madonna herself. During the "Dürer Renaissance" around 1600, many artists were not necessarily interested in making copies of the originals with the intention of forgery, but also in creating new works of art in the style of Dürer. In doing so, they alienated and transformed Dürer's motifs, altered the dimensions, transposed them into mirror images, transposed prints into paintings, etc.; oil/wood panel. L. and modified "Dürer" monogram "AD". Old brand stamp verso, furthermore mounted adhesive label dated 1840 with appraisal and assessment by Johann Friedrich Morgenstern for Eduard Schmidt von der Launitz (1797 - 1869). 40 cm x 28 cm. 19th century oak watermark frame.
In the appraisal mounted on the reverse, the Frankfurt painter, graphic artist, restorer and art dealer Johann Friedrich Morgenstern (1777 - 1844) is of the opinion that the painting is not by Albrecht Dürer, but assumes it to be by Albrecht Altdorfer (c. 1480 - 1538), Dürer's contemporary, whose pupil he is also considered to be, on the basis of the monogram. The sculptor and art historian Eduard Schmidt von der Launitz (1797 - 1869), also based in Frankfurt, taught at the Städelsches Kunstinstitut in Frankfurt and at the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf.
Provenance: from the important collection of the Frankfurt banking family von Bethmann, which grew over generations.
German or Flemish painter of the period of the "Dürer-Renaissance" active circa 1600. Oil on panel. Monogrammed "AD" lower left. Old mark on the reverse, further a mounted expert's opinion by Johann Friedrich Morgenstern (1777 - 1844) for the art historian Eduard Schmidt von der Launitz (1797 - 1869), dated 1840.
Estim. 10,000 - 20,000 EUR
