Master of the Eggelsberger Altar

C. Sepp, Munich, 1869;
Jean Dollfus (1823-1911), Paris;
His estate sale, Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, 1 April 1912, lot 31 (as École de Souabe), reproduced;
With F. Kleinberger Galleries, Inc., Paris;
From whom purchased by Mr. and Mrs. John Aldred, Lattingtown, New York, in 1923;
Their sale, New York, Parke-Bernet Galleries, 6 December 1940, lot 5 (as Peter Kaltenhof), reproduced;
There purchased by Ollie Bird Porter, Mansfield, Ohio, for $5,600;
By whom given to the present owner, 1951. 

Paris, Musée du Louvre, Exposition de tableaux, statues et objets d'art au profit de l'Oeuvre des orphelins d'Alsace-Lorraine, 1885, no. 279;
New York, Kleinberger Galleries, A Loan Exhibition of German Primitives for the Benefit of the American Red Cross, November 1928, no. 15.

S. Reinache, Répertoire de Peintures du Moyen Age et de la Renaissance, vol. 5, Paris 1922, reproduced plate 441;
Kleinberger Galleries, Catalogue of a Loan Exhibition of German Primitives for the Benefit of the American Red Cross, New York 1928, cat. no. 15, reproduced;
I. Lübbeke, "Zu den Flügelgemälden von 1481 aus Eggelsberg," in L. Schultes, ed., Gothik Schätze Oberösterreich:  Synposion im Linzer Schloss, 20. bis 22. September 2002, LInz 2003, pp. 257ff, reproduced p. 258 (as location unknown).

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This panel has been cradled. The cradle seems to be reasonably effective. There seems to be a very thin crack which has developed about 4 inches from the right edge. There is another crack closer to the center and another directly in the upper center. These should be glued and stabilized. The painting is quite dirty, but it is in remarkably good condition. It would respond well to cleaning. There has been very little, if any, instability to the paint layer in the past, and there is hardly any restoration to the work proper. There are a few small retouches that have darkened over time and are visible to the naked eye, but there are no signs of abrasion or discoloration to the paint layer. The gilding in the haloes and in the surrounding area above the figures is probably not period. The edge on the left side has been filled and restored; about ¾ of an inch has been added. The bottom edge also has restoration which extends up to about 1 inch into the picture in certain areas. There are two losses in the lower right, both of which seem to be in the restored area of the picture. However, the painting is in wonderful condition.
"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."

This striking and emotive depiction of The Death of the Virgin has now been identified as a missing panel from a known altarpiece dating from the last decades of the 15^th century.  In her article of 2003, Isolde Lübbeke convincingly attributes the altarpiece to an artist or workshop active in or around  Passau, Germany, and, by examining panels now in two separate museums, reconstructs its appearance.¹    In its original form  it would have consisted of two painted wings, each with an upper and lower panel, flanking a larger carved central scene.  Two panels from the wings, The Adoration of the Magi and The Nativity (fig. 1) are now in the Oberhausen Museum, Passau, Germany; on the reverse of each are three apostles, St. John the Evangelist, St. James the Lesser (?) and St. Philip (?); and St. Thomas, St. Matthew and St. Bartholomew, respectively.  The Death of the Virgin was recognized by Lübbeke as also belonging to the altar, but although she reproduces it in her article, she had never seen it and was unaware of its current location.²   However, it is clear from the figure types and the composition, and perhaps, more tellingly from the identical patterning on the gold background, that these three scenes were part of the same project.  The fourth panel, which has yet to be found, would have been either an Annunciation or Visitation.  

When the altarpiece was open the missing Annunciation or Visitation would have been at the upper left, The Adoration of the Magi at the lower left, The Nativity at the upper right and the present panel at the lower right.  The center would most probably have been the Coronation of the Virgin carved in wood.  When the altar was closed, the twelve Apostles, would have been visible, shown in four groups of three. 

The present work would also have had a painted reverse with three apostles, and Lübbeke has convincingly identified this with a panel depicting St. James the Greater, St. Simon and St. Judas Thaddaus now in the Musée des Beaux Arts, Dijon (fig. 2).³  The Death of the Virgin was already split  from the apostles by 1885, when the front and back were exhibited at the Louvre and were listed under two different catalogue numbers, 279 and 280; the apostles were described as Trois Saints and referred to as a pendant to La mort de la Vierge.⁴ 

The author of the Death of the Virgin has been identified as the Master of the Eggelsberger Altar, named for an eponymous altarpiece of the Virgin, originally made for the parish church of Eggelsberg, Austria.  It is dated 1481 on two panels and is now in the Oberösterreiches Landesmuseum, Linz. The master and his workshop were active in Lower Bavaria and Upper Austria, a region that encompassses the diocese of  Passau and extends to Salzburg, at the end of the 15^th century.⁵  Lübbeke details the small group of high quality works attributable to him, and notes the influence of Rueland Fruehauf, the most influential artist in the region, but suggests that further research is necessary to link the master to an historically verifiable personality.⁶

In the present panel, as in the Death of the Virgin from the Eggelsberger Altar, the Virgin is shown kneeling, her arms crossed in prayer, rather than lying in bed.  At the rear, her soul, represented as a young child, is held in the arms of God the Father.  This depiction of the subject developed in the later 14^th and early 15^th century. Her kneeling or sitting posture reflects other scenes from the life of Christ and the Passion, including the Adoration and the Lamentation, and emphasizes her humanity and suffering.⁷ 

 We are very grateful to Joshua Waterman for his help in cataloguing this lot. 

1.  See Literature.  The information relating to the attribution and dating of the work in this note is based on the information is Lübbeke’s article unless otherwise noted.
2.  Ibid. p. 257.
3.  Ibid. p. 259
4.  See under Exhibited. 
5.   Lübbeke, Op. cit, p. 259ff .
6.  Ibid., pp. 268-69.
7.  M.W. Ainsworth, in the forthcoming publication,  German Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1350-1600 , by  M.W. Ainsworth and J. Waterman, New York 2013, p. 214.