1015
Circle of Bartholomäus Spranger
(Antwerpen 1546 - 1611 Prag)
„Venus and Amor“
oil on copper; framed
20 x 14 cm
inventory number of the Attems painting collection on the reverse: F.C. 71
Provenance
since at least 1733 Palais Attems, Sackstraße, Graz (see estate inventory after Ignaz Maria Count of Attems, 1652-1732);
probably acquired in the 1960s, since then in family property through inheritance
Literature
Inventories of the Attems Collection published in: Georg Lechner, Der Barockmaler Franz Carl Remp (1675–1718), thesis, Vienna 2010:
(Q 25) 1733: Auszüge aus dem Verlassenschaftsinventar nach Ignaz Maria Grafen von Attems (b) Verzeichnis der Gemälde im Palais der Sackstraße …), p. 232, no. 71 (as "Ein Nackhendes Stückl mit Cupido Von Golzius")
(Q 27) 2nd quarter 19th century: p. 244, no. 71 (as "Ein nacktes Stückl mit Cupido")
(Q 28) 1879: p. 253, no. 71 (as "Venus mit Armor, Goltzius, copper, 20x14, 10 (Gulden)“)
Estimate: € 5.000 - 10.000
Result: € 3.840 (incl. fees)
Auction is closed.
The small copper plate has already been documented in 1733 in the inventory of the estate of Count Ignaz Maria von Attems (1652-1732). The collection probably also contained the "Galleria", which was once in Heiligenkreuz Castle, from the estate of his father, Ignaz Maria Johann Friedrich Count of Attems (1593-1663), who was in imperial service throughout his life (cf. Lechner 2010, p. 43).
The composition "Venus and Cupid" is documented in a drawing by Bartholomäus Spranger dated around 1592, which is now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York. The depiction of Venus can be compared, for example, with the figure positioned on the far left in Spranger's "Allegory of Emperor Rudolf II" (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Inv. No. GG 1125). A copperplate engraving by Aegidius Sadeler (1569-1629), who was also active at the imperial court in Prague, reproduces the drawing with minor changes (cf. Sally Metzler, Bartholomeus Spranger: Splendor and Eroticism in Imperial Prague, New York 2014, no. 133, p. 222f. and no. 183, p. 195). In the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, there is also a painting on canvas (130 x 95 cm), which is probably a repetition of the composition, created in close succession (Inv. No. GG 2880).