SOUTH GERMAN, EARLY 16TH CENTURY

The delicate oval face of the Virgin with its daintily pursed mouth and high, arched eyebrows can be stylistically related to artists working in the Ulm and Augsburg regions in the late 15th and early 16th centuries (see, for example, Paris, loc. cit.). Although it is not possible to make a definite attribution, the present lot clearly belongs to the tradition of Michel and Gregor Erhart, a father and son working in both these cities from around 1469 to 1540. An example of a classic Ulm school Virgin and Child composition can be seen on the High Altarpiece at Blaubeuren, which was carved in 1493/94. Opinion is divided as to which of the Erhart was actually responsible for the carving, demonstrating the difficulty of exact dating and attribution of works from this region (Baxandall, op. cit., p. 258, pl. 18).