The Raising of the Cross, and Saint John on Patmos, two full-page miniatures from an illuminated manuscript prayerbook on vellum

2 single leaves, (a) a leaf, 142 mm. by 98 mm., with a miniature, 135 mm. by 95 mm., showing Pontius Pilate and an attendant directing the raising of the Cross, three men pulling at its base, others pushing upwards with a pole and a ladder, two more (in the border) pulling on rope attached to the top of the Cross, Saint John and the three Maries on the right watching the scene, set in a rocky landscape strewn with bones and a skull, on a hillside with a distant view of Jerusalem built on a lake surrounded by mountains, all within a full border including naturalistic flowers and fruit and a butterfly and vignettes of the soldiers pulling the purple robe off Christ and slapping him, a group of Jews bringing the two thieves for crucifixion, led by a knight on horseback, the centurion pointing to the Cross, Mary Magdalene weeping, and the Virgin and Joseph of Arimathea preparing the Body for burial, all painted in colours and liquid gold; and (b) a leaf, 138 mm. by 98 mm., with a miniature, 130 mm. by 87 mm., showing Saint John the Evangelist seated at the foot of a hollow tree in the wilderness, writing in a book, his pencase on a tree stump, his reference library inside the hollow tree, his eagle standing on one leg on the right, landscape background with a view through a forest down the hill to a lake, with distant cities connected by a long bridge, the Virgin Mary appearing in the sky in a blaze of glory, with the martyrs in white robes proclaiming the Lord around the altar (Revelations 6:9-11) and the beast with ten horns and seven heads (Revelations 13:1-4); both within later borders of floral printed paper (perhaps English, seventeenth century), laid down on wood, both in wooden frames, one with elaborate moulding

The wooden panels are inscribed on the back with citation of a catalogue of General Mead's collection, 1851, item 299, and acquisition note by "JMW" (apparently), 1856.  Subsequently in the collection of the poet Frederick Locker Lampson (1821-1895), bought in 1867, his sale, Christie's, 11 May 1923, lot 67; and in the collection of  R. M. W. Walker, his sale, Christie's, 26 July 1945, lot 131, bought then by Eric Korner.

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The quality of these miniatures, and the pair in the following lot, is quite extraordinary.  The delicacy of detail and innovation, and the painterly compositions, reduced to the intimate scale of a hand-held prayerbook, all bring us to within a hair's breadth of the hand of Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), who may or may not have sometimes illuminated manuscripts and the margins of printed books.  The Korner miniatures were first published by Edmund Schilling, 'Dürer und der Illuminist Jacob Elsner', Phoebus, I, 1946, pp. 135-44, the present leaves being his pl. 1, p. 136, and pl. 6, p. 143, ascribing them to Elsner (d. 1517), which seems too early.  In 1961 they were reattributed to Nikolaus Glockendon (d. 1533/34): cf. Meister um Albrecht Dürer, exhib. Germanische Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg, 1961, p. 188, no. 331.  They are, frankly, too refined for Glockendon.  They were cited in U. Merkl, Buchmalerei in Bayern in der ersten Hälfe des 16. Jahrhunderts, Spätblüte und Endzeit einer Gattung, Regensburg, 1999, pp. 59 and 98, as being later copies of Dürer, and as from the same series as a miniature of the Assumption of the Virgin in the Öffentliche Kunstsammlung in Basel.  However, the Basel miniature is larger and its borders are of equal width on all sides, whereas the present leaves are very clearly verso pages, with wider outer margins, once part of a manuscript.  Rosy Schilling, perhaps reflecting a revised opinion of her late husband, ascribed them to Hans Springinklee (fl. 1512- c.1524), which seems very likely.

Springinklee was a draughtsman, probable illuminator, designer of over 200 woodcuts, and he was one of the artists commissioned by the Nuremberg council to decorate the ceiling of the apartments in the castle for the visit of Charles V in 1520.  Only two signed drawings by him are known, both executed with the extreme delicacy of the present miniatures (cf. J. Rowlands, The Age of Dürer and Holbein, German Drawings 1400-1550, 1988, pp. 138-9, no. 107). "Springinklee's possible activity as a manuscript illuminator needs further scrutiny" (B. Butts in the Grove Dictionary of Art, 29, 1996, p. 434).  Most pertinently, he was Dürer's closest follower and imitator, probably a pupil, and he actually lived in Dürer's house.  His contemporary Johann Neudörfer wrote of him, "Dieser Springinklee was bey Albrecht Dürer im Hauss, da erlangt er seine Kunst, dass er im Reissen und Mahlen berühmt war ... und illuminiret sehr fleissige Dinge, wie bei Georg Dummen in einem Gebeth Büchlein, welches Alexius Birnbaum geschreiben hat, zi sehen ist" (G. K. W. Lochner, ed., Johann Neudörfer, Nachrichten von Künstlern und Werkleuten, daselbst aus dem Jahre 1547, 1875, p. 144).  It is just possible that what we have here are four miniatures from the lost Prayerbook of Georg Dummen.

As noted by Edmund Schilling, the miniature of the Raising of the Cross is closely related to Dürer's set of drawings known as the Grüne Passion, 1504.  The vignette of the Entombment at the top is a direct copy of the drawing now in the Albertina in Vienna.  Dürer's drawing for the Raising of the Cross, which must have existed, however, no longer survives, and very probably the remarkable central composition here is a copy of the lost original, which was in Dürer's possession.  The landscape of Saint John on Patmos, derives from something very like Dürer's drawing of the Madonna mit den vielen Tieren, also in the Albertina, which includes the same hollow tree; the images in the sky are echoes from Dürer's woodcut Apocalypse.