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43
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Augsburg School, c. 1505
See original version (French)
43
-
Augsburg School, c. 1505
See original version (French)
Estimate €25,000 - €35,000
Voluntary lot
Description
Augsburg School, c. 1505
Three scenes from the life of the Virgin
Prepared panel, two boards, reinforced.
Height: 68.5 cm
Width: 179 cm
Previous restorations, lifting and minor losses
Provenance:
Rieunier & Bailly-Pommery auction, Paris, 24 March 1999 (expert: Eric Turquin), lot 12 (sold for 480,000 francs)
The donor’s coat of arms on the left is most likely that of a member of the Voln von Wildnaw family, originally from Sorabe.
The three panels in this composition draw directly on three famous woodcuts by Albrecht Dürer, from his prestigious series of nineteen engravings devoted to the life of the Virgin, conceived between 1503 and 1511 and published in Nuremberg in 1511. The meeting of Joachim and Anne at the Golden Gate, the Birth of the Virgin and her Presentation in the Temple – corresponding to the third, fourth and fifth scenes of the series – are transposed here into compositions of remarkable fidelity, bearing witness to the European dissemination of Dürer’s model and the artistic ambition of this ensemble.
Note the presence, to the right of the scene, of a white cloth draped over a towel rack, as well as a pot suspended in a niche. Combined with the immaculate whiteness of the cloth and its placement in a niche, it helps to evoke purity, the cleanliness of the soul and the virginity of Mary. Furthermore, this ensemble is directly linked to a lovely still-life detail placed on the lintel of the fireplace.
- The woman with the jug (central panel): The woman drinking from a jug is most likely depicted in a domestic context following childbirth, rather than as a specific episode in the Virgin’s life, a parable or a precise Marian symbol.
She is most likely a midwife attending to the new mother after childbirth. This motif is found in several depictions of the Nativity of the Virgin, notably in Albrecht Dürer’s engraving (see photos) dedicated to this episode: in it, a midwife is drinking after having assisted with the birth. The gesture presumably emphasises her fatigue and her need to quench her thirst, in a scene deliberately drawn from everyday life.
NB: This depiction is common in the iconography of the Nativity of the Virgin, which draws on apocryphal accounts such as the Protoevangelium of James, since the canonical Gospels do not recount the birth of Mary. Artists have therefore developed the scene based on legendary traditions and their observations of contemporary practices.
Expert: Stéphane Pinta, Turquin gallery (viewable by appointment with the expert)
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures modified on 10/14/2026 at 7:29 PM
Lot description modified on 10/15/2026 at 7:55 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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