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Bernhard Strigel

Margarethe Vöhlin [obverse], 1527

Not on View

Medium

oil on panel

Dimensions

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

framed: 50.01 × 37.62 × 5.08 cm (19 11/16 × 14 13/16 × 2 in.)

Credit Line

Ralph and Mary Booth Collection

Accession Number

1947.6.5.a

Artists / Makers

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

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
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Inscription

across bottom edge of engaged frame: Tausen und funfhundert iar (decorative element) Auch siben undzwaintzge das is war (decorative element) / Zallt man, do hett ich zwaintzg iar wol . Am tag Margrethe ich dagen sol (decorative element) (One thousand and five hundred years, with seven and twenty, that is true as men count, then was I full twenty years old on St. Margaret's day, so I should say.)

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.

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

Bibliography

1923: Valentiner, Wilhelm R. "Ralph H. Booth Loan Collection." Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 4 (1923): 51-52, repro. 54.

1924: Poland, Reginald. "Art in Detroit Homes." Art and Archaeology 17 (1924): 111, repro.

1925: Parker, Karl Theodor and Walter Hugelshofer. "Bernhardin Strigel als Zeichner." Belvedere 8 (1925): 33, n. 4, fig. 5.

1926: Götz, O., Georg Swarzenski, and A. Wolters. Ausstellung von Meisterwerken alter Malerei aus Privatbesitz. Exh. cat. Staedelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt, 1926: 70, under no. 201.

1929: Mayer, August L. "Bernhard Strigel als Porträtmaler." Pantheon 3 (1929): 1, repro.

1933: "A Century of Progress Exhibit List." Art News 31 (27 May 1933): 4.

1934: Hugelshofer, Walter. "Ein signiertes Bildnis von Bernhard Strigel." Pantheon 14 (1934): 306.

1934: Stange, Alfred. Deutsche Malerei der Gotik. 11 vols. Berlin and Munich, 1934-1961. Munich, 1957: 8:150.

1936: Kuhn, Charles L. A Catalogue of German Paintings of the Middle Ages and Renaissance in American Collections. Cambridge, Mass., 1936: 63, no. 259, pl. 52.

1948: Frankfurter, Alfred M. "Booth: hand-picking the Renaissance." Art News 47 (March 1948): 37, repro.

1948: Recent Additions to the Ralph and Mary Booth Collection. Washington, 1948: unpaginated, repro.

1949: "Ralph and Mary Booth Bequest in der National Gallery of Art, Washington." Phoebus 2, no. 2 (1949): 71, repro.

1950: "Old Masters in America: Important Gifts to the National Gallery, Washington" The Illustrated London News (September 16, 1950): 449, repro.

1959: Rettich, Edeltraud. "Bernhard Strigel, Ergänzungen und Berichtigungen zu: Alfred Stange `Deutsche Malerei der Gotik, VIII. Band, Schwaben'." Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte 22 (1959): 167.

1963: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 305, repro.

1964: Otto, Gertrud. Bernhard Strigel. Munich and Berlin, 1964: 81, 106-107, no. 87, repro. 78-79 (color), figs. 154-155.

1965: Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 125.

1967: Stange, Alfred. Kritisches Verzeichnis der deutschen Tafelbilder vor Dürer. 3 vols. Munich, 1970: 2:221, no. 966.

1968: National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 112, repro.

1973: Finley, David Edward. A Standard of Excellence: Andrew W. Mellon Founds the National Gallery of Art at Washington. Washington, 1973: 126.

1975: European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 332, repro. 333.

1975: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 155, nos. 168-171, repro. 154.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 155, no. 162, color repro.

1985: European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 382, repro.

1990: Dülberg, Anjelica. Privatporträts: Geschichte und Ikonologie enier Gattung im 15. und 16 Jahrhundert. Berlin, 1990: 23, 127, 208-209, no. 114-115, figs. 467-470.

1993: Hand, John Oliver, with the assistance of Sally E. Mansfield. German Paintings of the Fifteenth through Seventeenth Centuries. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, 1993: 167-173, color repro. 168 (repro. of reverse 170).

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.

2004: Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 139, no. 106, color repro.