Augustin Braun

Sir Peter Lely (L.2092);
Sir Thomas Lawrence (L.2445);
J. Gray;
sale, Sotheby's, 21 July 1948, lot 38;
Purchased from P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London, in 1948

London, Royal Academy, The Paul Oppé Collection, 1958, no. 413 (as 'Anonymous (1612), The Prodigal Son');
Ottawa, The National Gallery of Canada, Exhibition of Works from the Paul Oppé Collection, 1961, no. 99 (as 'Anonymous (1612)')

Hinge mounted by the upper corners to a modern mount. There is a small pin prick hole to the lower left quarter (circa 2cm below the dog), though this is only visible upon close inspection. There is evidence of some very light foxing to the verso, though this is not at all evident to the recto of the sheet. The medium remains strong and vibrant throughout this impressive sheet.
"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 fine drawing was always greatly admired by visitors to the Oppé collection, but until very recently its authorship remained the subject of speculation; the diverse list of attributions suggested by illustrious scholars over the years included de Gheyn, Callot, Blanchard, Baugin, and Ligozzi.  Another name, proposed by Edmund Schilling, was that of the talented yet surprisingly little known Cologne artist, Augustin Braun, but this attribution was only confirmed when Stijn Alsteens and Ger Luijten recognised the drawing as the preparatory study for a very rare print by Joannes Gelle (fig. 1), one of a set of four scenes from the story of Sorgheloos that Gelle and Abraham Hogenberg engraved after designs by Braun.¹  

It is perhaps understandable that Schilling's attribution was not immediately embraced.  Most of Braun's drawings, including the design in the Metropolitan Museum for another print in the same series, seem much more linear and less freely drawn than this, although a closer comparison of the chalk lines and wash actually reveals great similarities of texture and handling.²  Only occasionally, though, in drawings such as the chalk study of An Angel seated on a cloud playing a lute, in the British Museum, do we find anything like the energy and freedom of handling seen here.³

The Metropolitan Museum’s drawing is the study for the first print in the series, which was engraved by Abraham Hogenberg, who worked with Braun on several plates in the years around 1608.  Although Hogenberg published all four prints in the set, the other three were actually engraved by another printmaker, Johann Gelle.  On the basis that Gelle was in Antwerp until at least 1610 and is not recorded back in Cologne until 1614, Alsteens concluded that his contribution to the series probably dated from around 1614, but the date of 1612 inscribed on the present drawing suggests that these prints may actually have been made a little earlier.

As Timothy Husband has described, the story of Sorgheloos was one of the most popular cautionary tales in the 16^th-century literature of the Netherlands.⁴  A secular version of the Biblical story of the Prodigal Son, but without that parable’s redemptive happy ending, it is the story of a young man (Sorgheloos, or 'Careless’ in English) who squanders his fortune on gambling, loose women and corrupt friends. When he no longer has money, his friends desert him and he ends up destitute.  Here, in the final image of this set of four, Sorgheloos is portrayed penniless and alone, half-heartedly trying to cook a meagre fish-tail over a feeble fire of grass, while his mangy dog robs him of the rest of his supper.

There are various 16^th-century images of scenes from the story and one of these, a glass roundel of c. 1510-20 (fig. 2) known in at least three versions, is particularly close in composition to the present work.⁵  The ultimate source of the design for this roundel is not known, but it is hard to imagine that Braun was not aware of this composition when he made the present drawing.

With the resolution of this long-standing puzzle of attribution comes a rather significant addition to the small body of known drawings by Augustin Braun, who was surely the most individual and accomplished draughtsman working in the Cologne area at the beginning of the 17^th century.

^1.  F.W.H. Hollstein et al., German Engravings, Etchings and Woodcuts ca. 1400-1700, Amsterdam 1954- , vol. 4, p. 145, nos. 6-9 (after Braun); idem., Dutch and Flemish Engravings, Etchings and Woodcuts ca. 1450-1700, Amsterdam 1949-2007, vol. 7, p. 97, nos. 2-5 (Gelle) and vol. 9, p. 49, nos. 13-16 (Hogenberg)

^2.  Inv. 2003.515; S. Alsteens and F. Spira, Dürer and Beyond. Central European Drawings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1400-1700, exhib. cat., New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012, pp. 166-168, no. 75

^3.  Inv. 1997,0712.36; J. Rowlands, German Drawings from a private collection, exhib. cat., London and Nuremberg, 1984, p.67, no. 67

^4.  T.B. Husband, The Luminous Image. Painted Glass Roundels in the Lowlands, 1480-1560, exhib. cat., New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1995, pp. 88-97

^5.  New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cloisters Collection, 1999.243; London, Victoria & Albert Museum, inv. C.65-1929; see Husband, loc. cit.