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拍品專文
The existence of this rediscovered study has long been known through a late 18th Century engraving made when it was in the collection of Duke Karl Theodor of Sulzbach (1724-1799), Elector Palatine and from 1777 Duke-Elector of Bavaria. The drawing was described as one of the most celebrated drawings by Albrecht Dürer in the Duke's collection, a pair with a study of the Virgin which is still lost.
Prior to its rediscovery, and on the evidence of the engraving, the present drawing was held to be an autograph work by Dürer from the second sketchbook, known as the Pen Sketchbook, taken by the artist to the Netherlands in 1520-21. Other drawings from this group include two figure studies dated 1521 in the Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin (F. Winkler, op. cit., nos. 753-4), a drawing of an Old Man in the Albertina, Vienna, also dated 1521 (F. Winkler, op. cit., no. 757), and drawings of The head and bust of an old man and The head and bust of a nude young man both in the British Museum, London (J. Rowlands, op. cit, nos. 234-235). The first of the two drawings in London is so similar to Saint Joseph as to suggest that they are of the same model.
Duke Karl Theodor, an avid collector of drawings and prints and an active promoter of the arts and sciences, added considerably to the collections formed by his ancestors. The first attempt to order and classify the collection was begun in 1758 at the Duke's behest under the guidance of the artist Wilhelm Lambert Krahe (1712-1790), who in 1773 became the first director of the newly founded Electoral Academy in Düsseldorf. The collections were greatly enlarged in 1778 through the acquisition of Krahe's own collection, consisting of 5,524 drawings and 15,563 prints largely by Italian artists, for the sum of 26,000 thalers. The present drawing was more likely to have been acquired by Karl Theodor himself, probably in Munich following his accession to the Dukedom of Bavaria in 1777. It was deemed worthy to feature among the fifty best drawings of the collection engraved by Bislinger and Huck in 1781. When Karl Theodor died in 1799 he left no legal heir and his titles were inherited by his kinsman Maximilian Joseph. The territories were occupied by French revolutionary armies, and later annexed to France before being taken over by the Margrave of Baden in 1803. The drawings of Saint Joseph and The Virgin probably disappeared from the Ducal Collection during this period.
Prior to its rediscovery, and on the evidence of the engraving, the present drawing was held to be an autograph work by Dürer from the second sketchbook, known as the Pen Sketchbook, taken by the artist to the Netherlands in 1520-21. Other drawings from this group include two figure studies dated 1521 in the Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin (F. Winkler, op. cit., nos. 753-4), a drawing of an Old Man in the Albertina, Vienna, also dated 1521 (F. Winkler, op. cit., no. 757), and drawings of The head and bust of an old man and The head and bust of a nude young man both in the British Museum, London (J. Rowlands, op. cit, nos. 234-235). The first of the two drawings in London is so similar to Saint Joseph as to suggest that they are of the same model.
Duke Karl Theodor, an avid collector of drawings and prints and an active promoter of the arts and sciences, added considerably to the collections formed by his ancestors. The first attempt to order and classify the collection was begun in 1758 at the Duke's behest under the guidance of the artist Wilhelm Lambert Krahe (1712-1790), who in 1773 became the first director of the newly founded Electoral Academy in Düsseldorf. The collections were greatly enlarged in 1778 through the acquisition of Krahe's own collection, consisting of 5,524 drawings and 15,563 prints largely by Italian artists, for the sum of 26,000 thalers. The present drawing was more likely to have been acquired by Karl Theodor himself, probably in Munich following his accession to the Dukedom of Bavaria in 1777. It was deemed worthy to feature among the fifty best drawings of the collection engraved by Bislinger and Huck in 1781. When Karl Theodor died in 1799 he left no legal heir and his titles were inherited by his kinsman Maximilian Joseph. The territories were occupied by French revolutionary armies, and later annexed to France before being taken over by the Margrave of Baden in 1803. The drawings of Saint Joseph and The Virgin probably disappeared from the Ducal Collection during this period.