Joseph Heintz the Elder

Probably painted for the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II in Prague;
Probably Gottfried Winkler, Leipzig, 1768, no. 142;
With Curt Benedict, Paris, 1939;
With Galerie Heinemann, Wiesbaden, from whom acquired by the father of the present owners in the late 1960s or early 1970s.

J. Zimmer, Joseph Heintz d. Ä als Maler (1564–1609), Diss. Heidelberg (published Bamberg) 1967, pp. 240ff.;
J. Zimmer, Joseph Heintz der Ältere als Maler, Weißenhorn 1971, p. 98, no. A 17, reproduced fig. 46;
T. DaCosta Kaufmann, L'École de Prague, Paris 1985, p. 234, no. 7-29, reproduced (as a lost work);
T. DaCosta Kaufmann, The School of Prague, Chicago and London 1988 (English ed. of the above), pp. 191–92, no. 7-29, reproduced p. 192 (as a lost work);
J. Zimmer, Joseph Heintz der Ältere. Zeichnungen und Dokumente, Munich and Berlin 1988, pp. 137–38, under no. A 59;
J. Zimmer, in Prag um 1600. Kunst und Kultur am Hofe Rudolfs II, exhibition catalogue, Freren 1988, pp. 349–50, under no. 207.

The following condition report is provided by Sarah Walden who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's: Joseph Heintz the Elder. Diana and Callisto. This painting is on a copper panel, which has been well preserved, flat and undented, except for little old bends at the outer top corners and in the lower left corner. The edges have lost some flakes. The overall condition is extremely good, reflecting the stable early background of the painting, without a trace of wear in the blue of the sky or in the fine detail of the figures or the delicate drapery at upper right, suggesting minimal intervention in the past. There is a minor old scratch on the stomach of Callisto, with a few small marks on her breasts, and on the leg of the nymph behind Callisto. Occasional small flakes have been lost, including two slightly larger losses in the rocks at upper centre. There is possibly some older retouching in the deep madder drapery below Callisto's knees, and perhaps on the shore between the heads of the nymphs by the distant water. However the unworn quality of the brushwork elsewhere throughout is exceptional. This report was not done under laboratory conditions.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

With Bartholomäus Spranger and Hans von Aachen, Joseph Heintz was one of the three great figure painters active at the Court of the Emperor Rudolf II in Prague. Like the others, Heintz's formation as an artist is due to his Italian experience. He was in Rome from circa 1584 before going via Florence to Venice in 1587. While the artistic traditions of these cities and the antiquities he studied in Rome are apparent in his own style, he must have spent time in Parma, because the paintings of Correggio and Parmiganino exerted a powerful influence on his subsequent work, one which would be clear enough even if we were not aware of his copies after the latter. Rudolf II summoned Heintz to Prague in 1591 as court painter, but sent him back to Italy soon afterwards, where he was in Rome from 1592–95, acting as art agent for the Emperor as well as painting and drawing antique statuary. His development until he finally left Italy is not as easily measured as that of Spranger, whose style underwent an almost total metamorphosis during his Italian period. Nor did he settle permanently in Prague thereafter, spending at least as much time in Augsburg, where he became a citizen following his marriage there in 1598, and worked for the Fuggers and other Augsburg and Bavarian families, as well as the Emperor. He is usually said to have been influenced by the art of the cities where he is recorded: Rome, Florence and Venice; but a strong Parmese seam runs through his work, and he must have been impressed by the paintings (and drawings) of Correggio and Parmigianino.

This beautifully preserved and highly elegant small-scale work on copper, painted around the turn of the seventeenth century, is both a summation of Heintz’ art and a paradigm of the sensuousness and imaginative fantasy of Mannerism. Set in a watery cave, but strongly lit, it depicts the moment described by Ovid when the pregnancy of the nymph Callisto resulting from her liaison with Jupiter is uncovered by Diana and her other nymphs, one of whom raises the red cloth covering Callisto to reveal her gravid torso, while Diana sits enthroned in judgement, the extended fingers of her right hand raised in admonition.¹ The pallid flesh of the nymphs, their muscled thighs and etiolated arms are painted with an extreme degree of tautness as if they were engaged in a balletic performance for the viewer. In the distance, a priapic Satyr prances before another group of nymphs at the mouth of the cave. In his choice of subject matter in this and other paintings of Ovidian subjects, Heintz was almost certainly influenced by Titian's Poesie. Although he would not have known in the original the great Diana and Actaeon and Diana and Callisto painted for Phillip II, copies made by Titian's workshop abounded, and a Diana and Callisto, now in Vienna, was in the collection of Rudolf II (see fig. 1).² Heintz painted a Diana and Actaeon circa 1600, also now in Vienna, which owes a similar debt to Titian's treatment of the subject.³

This composition is known in two paintings: the present picture and a copy, probably dating from the early seventeenth century, also on copper and of similar dimensions (47.7 by 33.3 cm.), first noted in 1934 and last recorded in 1988 in the Heinz collection in Berlin.⁴ The reverse of the copy in inscribed thus: Original V. Kayserlichem gewesten hoffmaller Heintz gemahlt. 1601 ('the original was painted by the Imperial Court Painter Heintz in 1601'). Although Zimmer states that the present picture was in the collection of the Leipzig banker Gottfried Winkler in 1768, he goes on to suggest that it is probably the copy and not the present picture that was in the Winkler collection. Both paintings are on a copper support, while the work in the Winkler collection is listed in Kreichauf’s 1768 catalogue as on wooden panel. Zimmer however thinks that despite this inconsistency, there can be no doubt about the identification, since Kreichauf’s description of the work is very precise: 'Die nackenden Nymphen der Jagd entdecken ihrer Gebietherin die Schwangerschaft der Caliston. Diana sitzt zur Rechten, einem zierlichen Springbrunnen gegenüber. Über ihr ist ein Teppich, am Arme eines dürren Baumes aufgehangen. Ein klarer Bach durchrinnt die Höhle und umfließt ihren verzierten steinernen Sitz. Vor ihr sinkt die Geliebte des Jupiters hin, und kehret ihre Blicke beschämt nieder zur Erde. Eine ihrer Gespielinnen, die sie umringen, entwendet ihr das rothe Gewand, welches ihren hohen Leib den Augen der Göttin verbarg. In der Ferne überraschet ein neugieriger Satyr die badebden Schönen, beym gewölbten Zugange der beschatteten Kluft. Auf Holz. 1 Fuß 8 Zoll hoch, 1 Fuß 1 Zoll breit. Dieses Gemälde ist 1602 angefertigt.'

Joseph Heintz made a finished drawing of the present composition, now in Berlin, at the Kupferstichkabinett (see fig. 2).⁵ Both the style of the drawing and its refined technique – pen and brown ink, grey-brown wash heightened with white on light brown prepared paper – suggest that it was created as an independent drawing for presentation or sale and was not conceived in preparation for the present painting. It is unlikely that it preceded the painting and was almost certainly created afterwards – Zimmer uses the word Reflex to define its likely relationship with the present work.⁶ That it was formerly signed in monogram, and is of almost the same dimensions underscores this. 

A sketchy drawing of Diana and Callisto by Joseph Heintz in Harburg, datable circa 1595–1600, reveals a possible early idea for the present composition, although its oval shape suggests that it was originally intended for a silver or bronze plaquette, or perhaps a small oval painting (see fig. 3).⁷

A much weaker drawn copy, probably based on the painting rather than the Berlin drawing and attributed to Anton Gasser is known (see fig. 4).⁸

The dates 1602 in the Winkler catalogue and 1601 on the reverse of the painted copy are not to be depended on, but they at least point to a likely approximate dating. Since a dating of between 1598 and 1601 is plausible on grounds of style, either may provide a terminus ante quem.  

1 Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book II, verses 441–65.
2 Titian and Workshop, Diana and Callisto, oil on canvas, 183 by 200 cm. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, inv. GG-71.
3 Joseph Heintz the Elder, Diana and Actaeon, signed in monogram, oil on copper, 40 by 49 cm. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, inv. GG-1115.
4 See Zimmer under Literature, 1971, p. 99, no. A 17.0.2., and 1988, pp. 137–38, under no. A 59. It appeared in the sale catalogue of the Intern. Kunst u. Auktionshaus, Kat. 211, 1934, lot 405, was with Galerie Springer in 1971 and in 1988 was in the Heinz collection in Berlin. Zimmer notes the hardness of handling and weaknesses in the copy, and excludes the possibility that it could be autograph.
5 No. 10476; inv. no. 3638; 44.6 by 31 cm.; see Zimmer under Literature, 1988, pp. 137–38, no. A 59, reproduced figs 98 and 99, and colour plate VI (facing p. 128).
6 Zimmer 1988, p. 138.
7 Harburg/Ries, Fürstl. Oettingen-Wallerstein’sche Kunstsammlung (Bibliothek), Kasten 11 no. 55; Black chalk over graphite indications on paper, oval, 20 by 15.2 cm.; see Zimmer 1988, p. 143, no. A 69, reproduced fig. 104.
8 Kunstmuseum, Basel. Pen and grey ink and wash heightened with white on yellow-toned paper, 48 by 33.5 cm.; see Zimmer 1971, p. 99, no. A 17.0.3, reproduced fig. 47 and 1988, p. 137, under no. A 59.