JAN SWART VAN GRONINGEN | The Resurrection of Christ

Laid down on japan paper. Some damage to original sheet: diagonal tear towards upper left corner, and various other small losses and damages, mainly around the figure of Christ. Further abrasion towards lower right. Some minor light brown stains and surface dirt, but condition of ink and wash generally reasonably good and strong, and image still reads well.
"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."

Though few paintings by his hand are known, Jan Swart was a prolific draughtsman and designer of stained glass panels and woodcuts.  His early work reflects the influence of Dirk Vellert and Pieter Coecke van Aelst, as well as Jan van Scorel, and his compositions also betray a knowledge of the prints of Marcantonio Raimondi.  Swart's knowledge of Italian art seems to have been acquired at first hand: according to the biographer Karel van Mander, he travelled to Italy and lived for some time in Venice, and it seems very possible that he may even have continued from there to Constantinople, sometime before he executed his 1526 woodcut of Süleyman the Magnificent.

Stylistically this imposing depiction of the Resurrection is a typical example of the artist's work, with its combination of dark greyish brown ink and chestnut-brown wash, massive but carefully outlined figures, distinctive facial types, and more freely drawn background.  It was almost certainly made as a design for a glass panel.  The scale and format of the sheet are very typical of glass designs by Swart, who tended to favour this larger, rectangular format for his works of this type, in preference to the roundels produced by many of his contemporaries.¹  The dimensions of the present sheet are almost identical to those of three other drawings by the artist (two showing scenes from the life of King David, the other Moses with the Ten Commandments) -- the only other substantial drawings by Swart that have appeared at auction over the last thirty years.² 

Swart's work was influential in the formation of the styles of a number of Dutch glass-painters and designers of the next generation, most significantly the Crabeth brothers, who masterminded the astonishing stained glass cycle in the Sint Janskerk, Gouda.  

^1.  T.B. Husband, The Luminous Image. Painted Glass Roundels in the Lowlands, 1480-1560, exhib. cat., New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1995, p. 166
^2.  Sold: New York, Sotheby's, 13 January 1989, lot 158; Amsterdam, Sotheby's, 19 May 2004, lot 16; New York, Sotheby's, 26 January 2005, lot 58