- 95
A Portrait of Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, Engraved by Dominicus Custos (d.1615) after Giovanni Battista Fontana (d.1587), Innsbruck, 1601
Estimate
3,000 - 5,000 GBP
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Description
- ink on paper
Paper engraving, depicting a figure within a niche holding a mace in his right hand wearing a florally-decroated robe, a helmet at his feet, between flamboyantly carved columns with corinthian capitals, the reverse with 56 lines of printed text in German, numbered '171' in top right hand corner
Condition
In good overall condition, one or two minor stains, as viewed.
"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."
"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."
Catalogue Note
Both this and the following lot are illustrations from Augustissimorum imperatorum, serenissimorum Regum, atque Archiducum...verissimae imagines, by Jacob Schrenck von Notzing (Innsbruck, 1601). The work includes a hundred and twenty-five engraved portraits in total.
This publication was commissioned by the Roman Catholic Archduke Ferdinand II of Tirol (1529-1595), who was an avid collector of weaponry and armour, that had originally belonged to all sorts of princes and potentates. His main interest was history, and in order to document this interest he created the pictorial programme of the so-called 'Spanish Hall' and a collection of over a thousand portraits of European nobleman and women. He assigned his personal secretary Jacob Schrenck von Notzing to write a catalogue of the collection of armory (Heldenrüstkammer) housed at Schloss Ambras near Innsbruck which was finally brought to print in 1601.
The magnificent catalogue (known as Armamentarium heroicum) shows very rare examples of armour from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries which originally belonged to illustrious persons such as the Emperor Maximilian I or Prince Maurice of Orange. The objects themselves were displayed in Ambras castle in a strict hierarchic order. In 1582 the Antwerp born Augsburg engraver and publisher Dominicus Custos (1550/59-1615) started to engrave all 126 portraits after the drawings of Giovanni Battista Fontana (1541-87). The book is designed so that a full-length portrait engraving of the armour's former owner faces a page containing the biography of the figure shown. The noble figures are all in full armour and standing in niches with elaborate surroundings of ornamental columns.
This publication was commissioned by the Roman Catholic Archduke Ferdinand II of Tirol (1529-1595), who was an avid collector of weaponry and armour, that had originally belonged to all sorts of princes and potentates. His main interest was history, and in order to document this interest he created the pictorial programme of the so-called 'Spanish Hall' and a collection of over a thousand portraits of European nobleman and women. He assigned his personal secretary Jacob Schrenck von Notzing to write a catalogue of the collection of armory (Heldenrüstkammer) housed at Schloss Ambras near Innsbruck which was finally brought to print in 1601.
The magnificent catalogue (known as Armamentarium heroicum) shows very rare examples of armour from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries which originally belonged to illustrious persons such as the Emperor Maximilian I or Prince Maurice of Orange. The objects themselves were displayed in Ambras castle in a strict hierarchic order. In 1582 the Antwerp born Augsburg engraver and publisher Dominicus Custos (1550/59-1615) started to engrave all 126 portraits after the drawings of Giovanni Battista Fontana (1541-87). The book is designed so that a full-length portrait engraving of the armour's former owner faces a page containing the biography of the figure shown. The noble figures are all in full armour and standing in niches with elaborate surroundings of ornamental columns.