German School, early 16th Century

A knight of the Golden Fleece on horseback

Details

German School, early 16th Century
A knight of the Golden Fleece on horseback
pen and brown ink
9 3/8 x 8 ½ in. (23.7 x 21.8 cm)

Provenance

Heinrich Nahl (fl. around 1896), Heidelberg; Prestel, Frankfurt am Main, 7 October 1912, lot 167, pl. XV.
Henry Oppenheimer (1859-1932), London; Christie's, London, 10-14 July 1936, lot 356 (as 'Attributed to Leonhard Beck'; 13 gns to 'W.A.M.', probably William Martin)

Literature

G. Messling, Der Augsburger Maler Leonhard Beck und sein Umkreis, Dresden, 2006, no. C7.

Sale room notice

Please note that the drawing was offered in 2010 by Hill-Stone, New York. The catalogue of their sale exhibition from that year (Fine Old Master & Modern Prints & Drawings, catalogue 13, no. 1, ill.) quotes the opinions of Barbara Butts and Fritz Koreny, who independently suggested an Augsburg origin for the drawing.

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Lot Essay

The elaborate armour of this knight and his mount, as well as the pendant of the Order of the Golden Fleece he wears on his breast, are indications of an important position in the Holy Roman Empire, probably under Maximilian I, who reigned until his death in 1519. It can be compared to the numerous depictions of such knights produced in the early decades of the 16th Century (see E. Michel, Emperor Maximilian I and the Age of Dürer, exhib. cat., Vienna, Albertina, 2012-2013). The attribution to Leonhard Beck under which it was sold at the Oppenheimer sale (see Provenance) must have been based on a comparison with the woodcuts of that artist, in particular his contributions to the Weisskunig (‘White King’),a fictionalized life of Maximilian.

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