The Three Marys

1590s

Johann Willinges

Associated Names
Johann Willinges

Artist, German, c. 1560 - 1625

The image features three women standing and facing left. The first woman blows a horn while holding an object. The second holds a lidded urn against her chest, and the third holds a similar urn with her left arm while draping a cloth over her shoulder with her right hand. The women have delicately drawn facial features and detailed hair and wear flowing robes. Each woman holds a distinct object, likely an urn. The background is minimal, with the focus on the figures.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    pen and brown ink with gray wash on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund

  • Dimensions

    sheet (corners trimmed off): 15 x 13.8 cm (5 7/8 x 5 7/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2000.20.3

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Falsified collector's mark of Sir Joshua Reynolds, London [1723 - 1792] (Lugt 2364).[1] (sale, Christie's London, 9 July 1982, no. 444, as Rottenhammer). (Paul Drey Gallery, New York, 1993); George Allen; (sale, Sotheby's New York, 26 January 2000, no. 158); (C. G. Boerner Inc., New York, 2000); purchased 2000 by NGA.
[1]For forged Reynolds collector's marks, see Donato Esposito, "Whats' in a Mark, or What Marks Can Tell Us: The Use and Abuse of the Collector's Mark of Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723 - 1792), Les marques de collections II, ed. Peter Fuhring and Cordelia Hattori, Dijon, 2011, 57-63 and 154-167. Donato Esposito confirmed that this was a falsified mark after seeing the drawing in person (e-mail, 9 September 2011).

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1993

  • Master Drawings, 16th-19th Centuries, Paul Drey Gallery, New York,1993, no. 5 (as attributed to Willinges).

Wikidata ID

Q64582085

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