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拍品專文
This spectacular table top is decorated not only with the most elaborate Mannerist pattern of interlaced architectural scrolls, foliate sprays, flowers, grotesque masks, allegorical medallions and putti that appear to climb through this dense mesh, but also features eight pictorial cartouches with intricate historical scenes. The eight oval panels are based on the 1556 engravings after Maarten van Heemskerck's depictions of 'The Victories of Emperor Charles V', suggesting the top was made for - or commissioned by - a member of the Imperial court or indeed the Emperor himself.
AN IMPERIAL COMMISSION?
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement in 1556. As the heir of three of Europe's leading dynasties - the House of Habsburg, the House of Valois-Burgundy and the Crowns of Castile and Aragon - he ruled over extensive domains in Central, Western, and Southern Europe as well as the Spanish colonies in the Americas and Asia. While much of his reign was spent at war, fighting the French and Ottoman empires, and internally opposing the Protestant Reformation, he was known essentially as a lover of peace and in 1536 the Paduan ambassador, Marcantonio Contarini, wrote of him 'Not greedy of war, but most greedy of peace and quiet'.
In 1556, Charles abdicated all his titles and retired to the monastery of Yuste in Extremadura, where he died on 21 September 1558. He gave the Spanish Empire to his son, Philip, while his brother Ferdinand, already in possession of the dynastic Habsburg lands, succeeded as Holy Roman Emperor. As the engravings were not published until after the abdication of Charles V it is more likely that the table top was commissioned for - or by - one of his successors and the first set of engravings after van Heemskerck's designs was made by Hieronymous Cock, who dedicated them to King Philip II.
THE DESIGN SOURCES
The eight historical panels depicting 'The Victories of Emperor Charles V' are all based on engravings after Maarten van Heemskerck (1498-1574), with the four larger panels depicting:
-Emperor Charles V amidst his vanquished adversaries; with the Emperor siting on an eagle between two pillars and holds a sword and orb flanked by six tethered foes.
-Sulieman the Magnificent forced to raise the siege of Vienna; with a battlefield with knights with lances charging on horseback and retreating Turks.
-Emperor Charles V inspecting his troops near Ingolstadt in 1546; with Charles on an armoured horse holding a sceptre amidst soldiers and an encampment beyond.
-The surrender of John Frederick, Elector of Saxony, after the Battle of Mühlberg in 1547; with John Frederick, holding his helmet, approaching on foot Charles V with his commanders who sit on mighty steeds.
While the four smaller panels depict:
-The submission of the German cities in 1547; with Charles V sitting on a throne, confronted by a group of German dignitaries offering keys.
-Pope Clement VII besieged in the Castel Sant' Angelo, Rome; with two cannons are aimed at the building between a gateway flanked with statues of St Peter and St Paul.
-The submission of Philip, Landgrave of Hesse in 1547; with the Landgrave kneeling before Charles V seated on his throne and flanked by bishops and various members of the elite.
-The death of Charles, Duke of Bourbon, and the capture of Rome; the Duke falls backwards from a ladder against a tower to the alarm of a soldier; in the distance Rome is in flames, including the Castel Sant' Angelo.
The distinctive horse, found in the medallions to each corner, depicted carrying a sphere, galloping with it, bolting, and finally falling, breaking and losing the sphere, is also based on engravings after van Heemskerck. Entitled 'The Unrestrained World', the designs were initially conceived with the stallion accompanied by allegorical figures and represented: 'The World Disposing of Justice', 'Foolish Knowledge and Foolish Love trying to restrain the World', 'The World carrying away Knowledge and Love' and finally 'The World perishing together with Knowledge and Love'.
THE ATTRIBUTION
The above-mentioned scenes of the sphere-carrying horses, the wild-haired putti, the ornamental three-dimensional strapwork scrolls and the grotesque masks all relate this top to the two most sensational examples of Augsburg Mannerist marquetry of the mid-16th century to survive, the so-called 'Wrangelschrank' at the Westphalian Museum in Münster and the spectacular cabinet sold from a Milanese collection at Christie's, London, 5 November 2009, lot 259 (£1,127,650), which is now in the collections of the prince of Liechtenstein. Georg Himmelheber convincingly concludes that both cabinets must have been conceived in the workshop of Lienhart Stromair, the most proficient and celebrated Augsburg ébéniste of his time. Records of the Augsburg guild of ébénistes documents him to have worked for the Emperor as early as 1548 and the 18th century historian Paul von Stetten mentioned Stromair to have worked for Emperor Charles V again in 1554. Von Stetten also mentions another Augsburg 'Kistler', Bartholmä Weishaupt who worked for the Emperor's son, king Philip II, in the years from 1562 to 1568.
While there are obvious parallels between this table top and the two aforementioned cabinets, the presence of the pictorial scenes and their treatment is so different that a straight-forward attribution on comparison is not possible. It is however, clear, that even within the high standards of Augsburg marquetry-cutting of the mid-16th century this top stands out and it must be the work of one of the most skilled marqueteurs active in Augsburg in the 1550s.
AN IMPERIAL COMMISSION?
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement in 1556. As the heir of three of Europe's leading dynasties - the House of Habsburg, the House of Valois-Burgundy and the Crowns of Castile and Aragon - he ruled over extensive domains in Central, Western, and Southern Europe as well as the Spanish colonies in the Americas and Asia. While much of his reign was spent at war, fighting the French and Ottoman empires, and internally opposing the Protestant Reformation, he was known essentially as a lover of peace and in 1536 the Paduan ambassador, Marcantonio Contarini, wrote of him 'Not greedy of war, but most greedy of peace and quiet'.
In 1556, Charles abdicated all his titles and retired to the monastery of Yuste in Extremadura, where he died on 21 September 1558. He gave the Spanish Empire to his son, Philip, while his brother Ferdinand, already in possession of the dynastic Habsburg lands, succeeded as Holy Roman Emperor. As the engravings were not published until after the abdication of Charles V it is more likely that the table top was commissioned for - or by - one of his successors and the first set of engravings after van Heemskerck's designs was made by Hieronymous Cock, who dedicated them to King Philip II.
THE DESIGN SOURCES
The eight historical panels depicting 'The Victories of Emperor Charles V' are all based on engravings after Maarten van Heemskerck (1498-1574), with the four larger panels depicting:
-Emperor Charles V amidst his vanquished adversaries; with the Emperor siting on an eagle between two pillars and holds a sword and orb flanked by six tethered foes.
-Sulieman the Magnificent forced to raise the siege of Vienna; with a battlefield with knights with lances charging on horseback and retreating Turks.
-Emperor Charles V inspecting his troops near Ingolstadt in 1546; with Charles on an armoured horse holding a sceptre amidst soldiers and an encampment beyond.
-The surrender of John Frederick, Elector of Saxony, after the Battle of Mühlberg in 1547; with John Frederick, holding his helmet, approaching on foot Charles V with his commanders who sit on mighty steeds.
While the four smaller panels depict:
-The submission of the German cities in 1547; with Charles V sitting on a throne, confronted by a group of German dignitaries offering keys.
-Pope Clement VII besieged in the Castel Sant' Angelo, Rome; with two cannons are aimed at the building between a gateway flanked with statues of St Peter and St Paul.
-The submission of Philip, Landgrave of Hesse in 1547; with the Landgrave kneeling before Charles V seated on his throne and flanked by bishops and various members of the elite.
-The death of Charles, Duke of Bourbon, and the capture of Rome; the Duke falls backwards from a ladder against a tower to the alarm of a soldier; in the distance Rome is in flames, including the Castel Sant' Angelo.
The distinctive horse, found in the medallions to each corner, depicted carrying a sphere, galloping with it, bolting, and finally falling, breaking and losing the sphere, is also based on engravings after van Heemskerck. Entitled 'The Unrestrained World', the designs were initially conceived with the stallion accompanied by allegorical figures and represented: 'The World Disposing of Justice', 'Foolish Knowledge and Foolish Love trying to restrain the World', 'The World carrying away Knowledge and Love' and finally 'The World perishing together with Knowledge and Love'.
THE ATTRIBUTION
The above-mentioned scenes of the sphere-carrying horses, the wild-haired putti, the ornamental three-dimensional strapwork scrolls and the grotesque masks all relate this top to the two most sensational examples of Augsburg Mannerist marquetry of the mid-16th century to survive, the so-called 'Wrangelschrank' at the Westphalian Museum in Münster and the spectacular cabinet sold from a Milanese collection at Christie's, London, 5 November 2009, lot 259 (£1,127,650), which is now in the collections of the prince of Liechtenstein. Georg Himmelheber convincingly concludes that both cabinets must have been conceived in the workshop of Lienhart Stromair, the most proficient and celebrated Augsburg ébéniste of his time. Records of the Augsburg guild of ébénistes documents him to have worked for the Emperor as early as 1548 and the 18th century historian Paul von Stetten mentioned Stromair to have worked for Emperor Charles V again in 1554. Von Stetten also mentions another Augsburg 'Kistler', Bartholmä Weishaupt who worked for the Emperor's son, king Philip II, in the years from 1562 to 1568.
While there are obvious parallels between this table top and the two aforementioned cabinets, the presence of the pictorial scenes and their treatment is so different that a straight-forward attribution on comparison is not possible. It is however, clear, that even within the high standards of Augsburg marquetry-cutting of the mid-16th century this top stands out and it must be the work of one of the most skilled marqueteurs active in Augsburg in the 1550s.