Lot Essay
In the original gilt composition frame
As Hasse, op cit., has recorded the present lot, untraced since 1924 (see under provenance) was painted in 1807 in Dresden and formes the pendant to the picture of David playing the harp for Saul, now in the Gemäldegalerie Neue Meister, Dresden (Gemäldegalerie Neue Meister, 1966, p. 78, inv. no. 2192 B). Following Hasse, who speaks of repetitions by the artist of his most popular subjects, Dr Dorothee von Hellermann, actually working on a catalogue raisonné of the artist's work, believes that the present lot could possibly be the second version of the composition, the prime version being formerly in the collection of Staatsrat Slobin, which is recorded in F. von Boetticher, Malerwerke des 19. Jahrhunderts, p. 815, no. 15. Kügelgen, native from the Rhineland, travelled extensively, before setting down in Dresden in 1805. Here, he specialised in history subjects with a high degree of moral content. In this, he must have been influenced by his contemporary Goethe, whose ideas on the role of painters was published in the magazine Propylaen since 1799 and who organised yearly concours for painters in Weimar. (See for his role in the art world S. Schulze et. al. Goethe und die Kunst, exhibition catalogue, 1994). That Kügelgen was highly esteemed by Goethe becomes evident from the annotation in his Tag und Jahrheften from 1809: "Mensch und Maler waren eins in ihm und daher werden seine bilder immer ein doppelten Wert haben". (Quoted in S. Schulze, Goethe und die Kunst, 1994, under no. 118) to be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of this artist's work being prepared by Dr. Dorothee von Hellermann
See colour illustration
As Hasse, op cit., has recorded the present lot, untraced since 1924 (see under provenance) was painted in 1807 in Dresden and formes the pendant to the picture of David playing the harp for Saul, now in the Gemäldegalerie Neue Meister, Dresden (Gemäldegalerie Neue Meister, 1966, p. 78, inv. no. 2192 B). Following Hasse, who speaks of repetitions by the artist of his most popular subjects, Dr Dorothee von Hellermann, actually working on a catalogue raisonné of the artist's work, believes that the present lot could possibly be the second version of the composition, the prime version being formerly in the collection of Staatsrat Slobin, which is recorded in F. von Boetticher, Malerwerke des 19. Jahrhunderts, p. 815, no. 15. Kügelgen, native from the Rhineland, travelled extensively, before setting down in Dresden in 1805. Here, he specialised in history subjects with a high degree of moral content. In this, he must have been influenced by his contemporary Goethe, whose ideas on the role of painters was published in the magazine Propylaen since 1799 and who organised yearly concours for painters in Weimar. (See for his role in the art world S. Schulze et. al. Goethe und die Kunst, exhibition catalogue, 1994). That Kügelgen was highly esteemed by Goethe becomes evident from the annotation in his Tag und Jahrheften from 1809: "Mensch und Maler waren eins in ihm und daher werden seine bilder immer ein doppelten Wert haben". (Quoted in S. Schulze, Goethe und die Kunst, 1994, under no. 118) to be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of this artist's work being prepared by Dr. Dorothee von Hellermann
See colour illustration