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Lot Essay
The identification of these two ladies, particularly one of them, has proven to be difficult. One of them has traditionally been called Anna of Hungary, wife of the Emperor Ferdinand I, and this can now be confirmed. Two other sets of draughtsmen depicting male and female royal personages of the day are known, one of them in the Rijksmuseum (Leeuwenberg, loc. cit.) and the other in the Castello Sfozesco, Milan, and both include the same sitter with an inscription identifying her as Anna of Bohemia (another of her titles). Unfortunately, the other sitter is not included among either of these sets, but must represent another member of European royalty of the early 16th century.
When these portrait medallions appeared in Nathaniel Rothschild's inventory of 1903, they were attributed to the German sculptor Hans Kels (circa 1480-1559). Kels, along with Friedrich Hagenauer and Christoph Weiditz, were among a small group of highly skilled sculptors who created this type of portrait medallion in wood, usually with the intention of later using the relief as a model for casting in bronze, silver or gold.
When these portrait medallions appeared in Nathaniel Rothschild's inventory of 1903, they were attributed to the German sculptor Hans Kels (circa 1480-1559). Kels, along with Friedrich Hagenauer and Christoph Weiditz, were among a small group of highly skilled sculptors who created this type of portrait medallion in wood, usually with the intention of later using the relief as a model for casting in bronze, silver or gold.