Lot Essay
Little is known about the painter Lorenz Strauch other than he was active as a painter and engraver in the city of Nuremberg. This monogrammed pair of portraits appear characteristic when compared to other surviving portraits (invariably signed) by the artist. The sitters' identities remain a mystery but, given the man's slashed doublet and the woman's lace ruff and gold necklace, they were likely a wealthy couple in the artist's native city of Nuremburg. We are grateful to Fred G. Meijer for endorsing the attribution to Strauch upon first hand inspection.