Bishop of Augsburg with Three Coats of Arms

c. 1485

German 15th Century

Associated Names
The image shows a figure standing upright. The person is positioned facing forward, with one hand raised in a gesture and the other hand holding a long golden staff with an ornate top. The figure has prominent facial features, depicted with linear details, and the person's hair is not visible as they are wearing a tall red and white mitre adorned with blue and green gems. Their clothing is a rich brown robe draped over a blue garment with white sleeves visible, featuring jewel-like red accents on the cuffs. The figure is surrounded by a decorative frame with floral motifs at the top. At the bottom, there are two heraldic shields, one red and white and the other black and white, resting on a green background. There is no visible background behind the figure, as it is set against a cream-colored backdrop.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    hand-colored woodcut on vellum

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet: 22.2 × 15 cm (8 3/4 × 5 7/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.659

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Schreiber, no. 2025


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Martin Aufhäuser [1875-1944], Munich, Holland, and Los Angeles; [1] purchased 19 August 1939 by Lessing J. Rosenwald, Jenkintown, PA (L1760c and L1932d); gift to NGA, 1943.
[1] For more information on Aufhäuser's collection, see Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Rosenwald Papers, Box 9; Lessing J. Rosenwald, Recollections of a Collector, Jenkintown, Pa, 1976, pp. 14-18, and Richard S. Field, Fifteenth Century Woodcuts and Metalcuts, Washington, D.C., 1965, Preface (np).

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1960

  • Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 1960, no cat.

Bibliography

1926

  • Schreiber, Wilhelm Ludwig. Handbuch de Holz- und Metailschnitte des XV Jahrhunderts. 8 vols. Leipzig: Verlag Karl W. Hierseman, 1926-1930.

Wikidata ID

Q64953173

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