13. South German School
Late 17th Century

The Coronation of the Virgin, Design for a Cupola Ceiling

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German School, The Coronation of the Virgin

The Coronation of the Virgin, Design for a Cupola Ceiling

Brown ink, and grey wash, 270 x 254 mm. Fine, finished, inscribed circular design showing the Virgin in the clouds, crowned by God the Father and Christ, the holy spirit above, the clouds supported by angels, and hundreds of other heads and figures underneath and around.. One triangular support is drawn at the lower left with an angelic figure writing on a tablet. The drawing was formerly catalogued as Italian, late sixteenth century, but appears to be more likely Germanic and somewhat later, more specifically, South German and of the seventeenth century. It relates, on the early side, to works by Johann Rottenhammer (1564-1625) (see Kaufmann Drawings from the Holy Roman Empire, No. 30) who also did a famous altarpiece of the subject, unrelated to this composition, and, on the late side, to a sheet by the sculptor Franz Ignaz Günther (1725-1785) (see Kaufmann Central European Drawings, No. 52), whose figural drawing is similar but the overall style clearly later. This sheet must fall somewhere between the two, the artist as yet unidentified. A tour of south German and Austrian churches might provide an answer.