Hans Rottenhammer

Mrs Drey, 1960;
Anonymous sale, Munich, Neumeister Auktionshaus, 11 December 1991, lot 352;
With Katrin Bellinger, Munich 1992, from whom acquired.

H. Schlichtenmaier, Studien zum Werk Hans Rottenhammer d.A, Dissertation, Tübingen 1988, p. 231, no. GI 34;
H. Borggrefe, in H. Borggrefe et al., Hans Rottenhammer, exhibition catalogue, Lemgo and Prague 2008, p. 131, reproduced fig. 180.

The following condition report is provided by Hamish Dewar who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's: Structural Condition The copper support is structurally sound and secure. Paint Surface The painting has an even varnish layer. Inspection under ultra-violet light shows small, scattered spots and lines of inpainting. The most significant of these small retouchings visible under ultra-violet light are a diagonal line, approximately 2.5 cm in length, across the two central figures in the centre of the composition, and other small touches on the figures. There are also traces of a very thin diagonal line running down across the composition from the upper left corner above the head of Paris. This line would appear to be a retouched thin scratch but is not clearly identifiable under ultra-violet light. There may be other retouchings which are also not identifiable under ultra-violet light. Summary The painting would therefore appear to be in good and stable condition and no further work is required.
"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 Judgement of Paris was a theme frequently dealt with by Rottenhammer during his Venetian period of 1591 to 1604, with the artist varying the composition in terms of both the format and the arrangement of figures. In a vertical version dated 1597, now in the Petit Palais, Paris, the protagonists crowd in close together, a tired looking Paris placing the golden apple in a strident Aphrodite's hand.¹ In a horizontal composition in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich, dated to 1605, the direction of the scene is reversed and Minerva turns her back to us.² The present version, dated by Schlichtenmaier to circa 1600, is undoubtedly the most successful, with its intelligent arrangement of figures in a frieze-like grouping set against an expansive landscape. The attention to detail, particularly noticeable in the delicate vegetation, is also superior in this version. The debt to Venetian painting, and above all to Tintoretto and Palma Giovane, reveals itself in the elongated figures and in the vibrant colouring.

Heiner Borggrefe believes that Rubens may have been inspired by this version of the Judgement, linking it to his oil on copper sketch of the same subject, executed in circa 1601, in the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna.³ Indeed, in both compositions a slender Aphrodite demurely rests a bent right leg against the left, and the figures are set out in the same order and with the same spacing. One perhaps also senses a broader appeal for Rubens in the proportions and sway of Rottenhammer's goddesses.

Rottenhammer also experimented with the theme of the Judgement of Paris in a series of drawings, whose compositions differ from the painted versions. Examples of these can be found in the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, the Yale University Art Gallery and the Crocker Museum, Sacramento. The figure of Aphrodite in the present work is closely comparable to that in a drawing of circa 1600 in the National Gallery, Copenhagen. The wealth of different variations, both painted and drawn, reveal Rottenhammer's enduring fascination with this subject.

1. Borggrefe in Lemgo and Prague 2008, p. 129–30, cat. no. 34, reproduced.

2. Borggrefe in Lemgo and Prague 2008, p. 75, reproduced fig. 129.

3. Borggrefe in Lemgo and Prague 2008, p. 130. Michael Jaffé had previously noted the similarities between the Rubens oil sketch and the Rottenhammer version in Paris (see M. Jaffé, Rubens and Italy, Oxford 1977, p. 63).