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Bernhard Strigel

Margarethe Vöhlin [reverse], 1527

Not on View

Medium

oil on panel

Dimensions

overall (visible surface, greatest height): 43 x 30 cm (16 15/16 x 11 13/16 in.)

framed: 49.6 x 37 cm (19 1/2 x 14 9/16 in.)

Credit Line

Ralph and Mary Booth Collection

Accession Number

1947.6.5.b

Artists / Makers

Bernhard Strigel (artist) German, 1460/1461 - 1528

Image Use

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Inscription

coat-of-arms center: argent, on a fess sable, three majuscule letters "P" silver; crest: a demi-vol argent, a fess sable charged with three majuscle letters "P" silver; upper right above coat-of-arms: U.3.

Provenance

Probably Hans Roth [d. 14 March 1573] and Margarethe Vöhlin [d. 5 July 1582], Memmingen, Augsburg, and Ulm.[1] Manoli Mandelbaum, Berlin; (Julius Böhler, Munich), in January 1922; (Paul Cassirer, Berlin); purchased March 1922 by Ralph Harman [1873-1931] and Mary Batterman [d. 1951] Booth, Detroit;[2] gift 1947 to NGA.

[1] Anton H. Konrad, letter of 5 November 1988 to John Hand, in NGA curatorial files, suggested that the pictures remained in the possession of the Roth family in the Schloss at Reutti (now New-Ulm) until 1890 when bankruptcy forced the dispersal of the collection. Since the Scloss archive is not extant, this proposal remains unverified.

[2] Provenance corroborated by letter of 9 November 1987 from Julius Böhler to John Hand, in NGA curatorial files. See also Böhler inventory card no. 22-149, Getty Research Institute (copy NGA curatorial files).

Associated Names

Booth, Ralph Harman and Mary Batterman
Booth, Ralph Harman, Mrs.
Böhler, Julius
Galerie Paul Cassirer
Mandelbaum, Manoli
Roth, Hans and Margarethe

Exhibition History

1923: Ralph H. Booth Loan Collection, Detroit Institute of Arts, 1923, no cat.

1926: The Third Loan Exhibition of Old Masters, Detroit Institute of Arts, (Catalogue of a Loan Exhibition from Detroit Private Collections.), 1926, no. 20.

1927: The Fifth Loan Exhibition of Old and Modern Masters, Detroit Institute of Arts, 1927, no. 27.

1939: Masterpieces of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture from 1300-1800, New York World's Fair, 1939, no. 364, repro.

2011: Dürer-Cranach-Holbein. Die Entdeckung des Menschen: Das deutsche Porträt um 1500, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna; Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung, Munich, 2011-2012, no. 167, repro. (shown only in Munich).

Technical Summary

The examination was conducted without disengaging the panel from its frame. The support is a single piece of wood with vertically oriented grain,[1] painted on both sides and set into an engaged frame. It is estimated that the frame, like its pendant, is made of poplar. A barbe is visible on all four edges of the panel, suggesting a once continuous ground and paint layer; it is likely that at the time the panel was cradled it was detached from its frame. Along the left, right, and bottom sides wooden strips are nailed to the outer edge of the frame. Examination with infrared reflectography revealed a faint outlining of the eyes, which is possibly underdrawing. Infrared photography discloses that the third and fourth fingers of the sitter's hand were originally shorter. The obverse is generally in good condition. There is, however, extensive retouching in the face, and the tops of the letters in the first five words of the inscription show signs of damage and possible retouching.

Reverse: An area roughly the size of the coat of arms was prepared with a white ground. A layer of greenish paint and small yellow dots was applied directly to the wood in the remaining areas of the panel and frame. Numerous small losses in the coat of arms have been inpainted. There are scratches and losses scattered throughout the greenish area. Examination with infrared reflectography did not reveal underdrawing. The reverse is not varnished.

[1] The wood was identified by the National Gallery's scientific research department.

Bibliography

1995: Löcher, Kurt. Review of German Paintings of the Fifteenth through Seventeenth Centuries, by John Oliver Hand with the assistance of Sally E. Mansfield. Kunstchronik 43 no. 1 (January 1995): 19.