Johannes Lingelbach

Anonymous sale, London, Christie’s, 29 March 1974, lot 11, for 9,500 gns. to Steffen on behalf of Dr. Rau;
Bequeathed by Dr. Rau to the Foundation of the German Committee for UNICEF.

C. Burger-Wegener, Johannes Lingelbach, inaugural dissertation, Schwerin 1976, pp. 74, 278, cat. no. 108;
G. Briganti et al., The Bamboccianti, Rome 1983, p. 267, no. 10.8, reproduced.

The painting has been recently relined and is stable. The paint surface is very well- preserved overall. There are two localized areas of restoration, firstly to the upper branches of the tree, and further to the doorway and window of the inn. In the extreme upper margin there is some restrengthening to the sky, but otherwise there are just a few minor scattered spot retouchings. The painting, which is in good and stable condition, requires no further attention. Sold in a decorative gilt frame with some losses to the mouldings.
"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."

This is both one of Lingelbach's most elegant and most beautifully executed genre scenes. Outside an inn set on a rise before the distant, gently rolling hills of the Roman campagna an old man and a boy sing to the tune of a violin. Judging from the expressions of the travellers around the table, their music-making has not so far impressed its audience. Somewhat oblivious to the noise, a seated woman licks a thread as she spins wool, a bearded peasant rests inelegantly against a table, leaning back from the clamour of the musicians, while behind a pair of heavily-laden horses nourish themselves after the climb to the inn. The painting dates from Lingelbach's most accomplished period as a painter; dated 1651, it is from the same year, and on a canvas of precisely the same dimensions, as his celebrated Toothpuller in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.¹

Unlike the majority of the Dutch Italianate painters, the Frankfurt-born Lingelbach spent a lengthy sojourn in Italy, living in Rome between 1644 and 1650.  His output there at moments comes very close to the work of the Dutchman Pieter van Laer, called Bamboccio, the Fleming Jan Miel, and the Italian Michelangelo Cerquozzi.  His paintings remain thoroughly Italianate for the rest of his career, and frequently depict landmarks from Rome and the port of Livorno.  While the tone of his later paintings becomes increasingly grey, or steely, the figures that populate them change little and remain completely Italian - those in this painting being particularly good examples of this - although paradoxically the staffage that he contributed to the landscapes of many other painters, including Jacob van Ruisdael, are less obviously so.  Lingelbach usually crowded his pictures with large numbers of these figures but here, despite its subject, he has undertaken a more economically-composed work with an unusually tranquil mood. 

1. See Briganti, under Literature, p. 262, fig. 10.3.