ATTRIBUTED TO TILMAN HEYSACKER, CALLED MEISTER TILMAN (ACTIVE CIRCA 1475-1515), GERMAN, COLOGNE, CIRCA 1500 | SEATED BISHOP SAINT

With Kunstzalen Vecht, Amsterdam, 1983;

with Polak Works of Art, Amsterdam, 1997;

private collection, Belgium

This elegant figure of a Bishop Saint can confidently be attributed to the important late-Gothic sculptor, Tilman Heysacker of Cologne, who is traditionally referred to as Meister Tilman. A convincing comparison is found in the pair of reliquary busts by the master in the Schnütgen Museum, Cologne (inv. nos. 1081a-b). The male busts' youthful faces, with long features and high cheekbones, and their deeply carved curls of hair are closely analogous to the present figure. Compare also Meister Tilman's group of the three Kings (Schnütgen Museum, inv. nos. A 861a-c), particularly with regard to the angular folds of drapery, and the facial features of Melchior. The fine decorative beading and fringing seen on the Bishop's mitre and cloak is characteristic of the sculptor's most distinguished works. 

RELATED LITERATURE

R. Karrenbrock (ed.), Die Holzskulpturen des Mittelalters II, 1: 1400 bis 1540, Teil 1: Köln, Westfalen, Norddeutschland, cat. Museum Schnütgen, Cologne, 2001, pp. 256-285

Sotheby's is grateful to Dr. Reinhard Karrenbrock for his kind assistance in cataloguing this lot.