- 39
Johann König Nuremberg 1586 - 1642
bidding is closed
Description
- Johann König
- A wooded river landscape with Saint John the Baptist
- signed lower right: Johan./König.F
oil on copper
Provenance
Anonymous sale ("The Property of a Gentleman"), London, Sotheby's, 8 July 1981, lot 105;
With Robert Noortman, Maastricht, from whom bought by the present owner in 1988.
With Robert Noortman, Maastricht, from whom bought by the present owner in 1988.
Exhibited
Kassel, Staatliche Museen, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, on loan 1991-2001 (inv. no. L. 1126).
Catalogue Note
It is not known if Johann König studied with Elsheimer in Rome, or even known for sure that he met him there, but the evidence of his early pictures such as this one overwhelmingly suggests that he did. He was in any event unquestionably the finest of Elsheimer's followers, and in this exquisite little picture on copper, the preferred support of both painters, he comes closer to his mentor than in any other work. It dates from circa 1610, the year of Elsheimer's premature death, and was either painted in Rome or shortly after König's return to Augsburg.
The lake beyond the saint, fringed with densely packed trees reflected in the water and with figures on the further bank strongly recalls Elsheimer's small copper of Tobias and the Angel of 1607-8 (Frankfurt, Historisches Museum), and Hendrick Goudt's engraving after it in reverse of 1608 (see K. Andrews, Adam Elsheimer, Oxford 1977, pp. 150-1, cat. no. 20, reproduced figs. 72 and 74). In Elsheimer's composition, Tobias and the Angel cross a stream issuing from a lake on stepping stones, so the setting of his and König's compositions are similar. The unusual device of the shallow waterfall immediately beyond the saint is not one found in Elsheimer's work, but is reminiscent of similar waterfalls or weirs in the landscapes of Annibale Carracci and Domenichino, incidentally providing further evidence for König's sojourn in Rome at around the time that such works were being produced.
The timing of König's visit to Rome is not known, except that it took place after 1606, and that before he went to Rome he is believed to have spent more than a year in Venice, so he cannot have reached Rome before 1608. The style of the present, very Elsheimeresque picture suggests that he was most familiar with Elsheimer's work around 1608-9. Elsheimer's artistic personality developed very quickly over his short life, and the present work has little to do with his early work. While the connections with Elsheimer's first Tobias and the Angel are obvious, there are no similarities with his second treatment of this subject, the so-called "large Tobias" of circa 1609 (known through an early copy, and Goudt's print after it of 1613; see Andrews, op. cit., p. 154, cat. no. 25, reproduced figs. 89 and 90). Had König been aware of it, given his debt to the earlier Tobias, one might have expected him to incorporate some elements from Elsheimer's later treatment of it, such as the hill rising beyond the trees. This may present some slight evidence for König having left Rome before 1609-10.
The lake beyond the saint, fringed with densely packed trees reflected in the water and with figures on the further bank strongly recalls Elsheimer's small copper of Tobias and the Angel of 1607-8 (Frankfurt, Historisches Museum), and Hendrick Goudt's engraving after it in reverse of 1608 (see K. Andrews, Adam Elsheimer, Oxford 1977, pp. 150-1, cat. no. 20, reproduced figs. 72 and 74). In Elsheimer's composition, Tobias and the Angel cross a stream issuing from a lake on stepping stones, so the setting of his and König's compositions are similar. The unusual device of the shallow waterfall immediately beyond the saint is not one found in Elsheimer's work, but is reminiscent of similar waterfalls or weirs in the landscapes of Annibale Carracci and Domenichino, incidentally providing further evidence for König's sojourn in Rome at around the time that such works were being produced.
The timing of König's visit to Rome is not known, except that it took place after 1606, and that before he went to Rome he is believed to have spent more than a year in Venice, so he cannot have reached Rome before 1608. The style of the present, very Elsheimeresque picture suggests that he was most familiar with Elsheimer's work around 1608-9. Elsheimer's artistic personality developed very quickly over his short life, and the present work has little to do with his early work. While the connections with Elsheimer's first Tobias and the Angel are obvious, there are no similarities with his second treatment of this subject, the so-called "large Tobias" of circa 1609 (known through an early copy, and Goudt's print after it of 1613; see Andrews, op. cit., p. 154, cat. no. 25, reproduced figs. 89 and 90). Had König been aware of it, given his debt to the earlier Tobias, one might have expected him to incorporate some elements from Elsheimer's later treatment of it, such as the hill rising beyond the trees. This may present some slight evidence for König having left Rome before 1609-10.