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Lot Essay
The set of four recently discovered double-sided panels represents an important addition to the corpus of gothic retables from the province of Carinthia, Southern Austria. Closely related to the Villachian workshop, they reveal a local tradition which is associated with painters who were educated in Villach, with clear affinities with the work of Thomas Artula, also called Thomas of Villach or the Master of Gerlamoos (Thörl 1435/40- 1523/29 Villach).
Anna Moraht-Fromm believes that these four panels originally formed the inner- and outer-faces of wings of a single-register altarpiece, and that this altarpiece would have had a predella (now lost): 'This structure is suggested by the togetherness of inner- and outer face to one wing (proved by the wood grains), the viewing direction of the figures and the perspectival arranged tile floor, but evenso the position of the two donors on the fixed wings of the closed status and by the prayers to the Mother of God' (see figs. 1 and 2). According to Moraht-Fromm the structure of this kind of altarpiece can be found in Austria, but primarily in Carinthia.
On the outer faces, four monumental figures fill the pictorial spaces, set against plain backgrounds, which are now almost black but would originally have been blue. While on the inner faces, the backgrounds are adorned with richly-patterned cloths of honour, the upper register is decorated with beautifully preserved gold leaf. The frames, which are almost certainly original, are coloured blue, red and gold on the outer faces, and blue and gold on the inner faces. The palate is fairly consistent, with greens, reds and pinks used to articulate the saints' robes. The stout necks and large, lash-less eyes with brown irises and shadowed lower lids, are characteristic of the Carinthia school.
The donors appear on the outer faces of the wings, the male donor presented by Saint Andrew and the female donor presented by Saint Paul. The panels bear no arms or emblems and the identity of these donors has subsequently been lost, but they were clearly wealthy, he wearing a green 'Schaube' (a kind of coat) with a black fur collar and she dressed for church with a tight-fitting white bonnet.
Stylistically these panels are closely related to an altarpiece in the Diözesanmuseum, Klagenfurt, which Moraht-Fromm believes date slightly earlier. Nevertheless the panels in Klagenfurt show already a very comparable structure and handling of the figures (see: Janesz Höfler, Die Tafelmalerei der Gotik in Kärnten, 1420-1500, Klagenfurt 1987, p. 72f, no 25).
We are grateful to Anna Moraht-Fromm for her help in cataloguing this lot, on the basis of photographs. Her report, dated March 2014 is available with the department.
Anna Moraht-Fromm believes that these four panels originally formed the inner- and outer-faces of wings of a single-register altarpiece, and that this altarpiece would have had a predella (now lost): 'This structure is suggested by the togetherness of inner- and outer face to one wing (proved by the wood grains), the viewing direction of the figures and the perspectival arranged tile floor, but evenso the position of the two donors on the fixed wings of the closed status and by the prayers to the Mother of God' (see figs. 1 and 2). According to Moraht-Fromm the structure of this kind of altarpiece can be found in Austria, but primarily in Carinthia.
On the outer faces, four monumental figures fill the pictorial spaces, set against plain backgrounds, which are now almost black but would originally have been blue. While on the inner faces, the backgrounds are adorned with richly-patterned cloths of honour, the upper register is decorated with beautifully preserved gold leaf. The frames, which are almost certainly original, are coloured blue, red and gold on the outer faces, and blue and gold on the inner faces. The palate is fairly consistent, with greens, reds and pinks used to articulate the saints' robes. The stout necks and large, lash-less eyes with brown irises and shadowed lower lids, are characteristic of the Carinthia school.
The donors appear on the outer faces of the wings, the male donor presented by Saint Andrew and the female donor presented by Saint Paul. The panels bear no arms or emblems and the identity of these donors has subsequently been lost, but they were clearly wealthy, he wearing a green 'Schaube' (a kind of coat) with a black fur collar and she dressed for church with a tight-fitting white bonnet.
Stylistically these panels are closely related to an altarpiece in the Diözesanmuseum, Klagenfurt, which Moraht-Fromm believes date slightly earlier. Nevertheless the panels in Klagenfurt show already a very comparable structure and handling of the figures (see: Janesz Höfler, Die Tafelmalerei der Gotik in Kärnten, 1420-1500, Klagenfurt 1987, p. 72f, no 25).
We are grateful to Anna Moraht-Fromm for her help in cataloguing this lot, on the basis of photographs. Her report, dated March 2014 is available with the department.