Januarius Zick
Mercury in the workshop of a sculptor
Lot Closed
December 8, 03:33 PM GMT
Estimate
8,000 - 12,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Januarius Zick
Munich 1730-1797 Ehrenbreitstein
Mercury in the workshop of a sculptor
oil on canvas
unframed: 45 x 56.7 cm.; 17¾ x 22⅜ in.
With Reinhold Hofstätter, Vienna;
By whom sold, Vienna, Dorotheum, 10 May 2017, lot 218, for 21,848 euros.
This painting is a portrayal of a scene from Aesop's Fables, where Mercury decides to investigate how highly he is esteemed among mortals. In doing so, he goes in disguise to a sculptor's studio to enquire after works of art. After receiving the price for two figures of Jupiter and Juno, he exclaims that surely the statue of himself (he is shown pointing to a figure of Mercury) would be worth several times the value of the other two. On hearing this, the sculptor then offers to include the sculpture of Mercury gratis as part of the bargain for the other two. In essence, the moral of this tale is a warning not to overestimate one's own worth.
Another version of this composition, in an upright format, is preserved in the Mittelrhein–Museum, Koblenz.1
1 B. Reinhardt, Januarius Zick und sein Wirken in Oberschwaben, Munich 1993, pp. 110–11, no. 33 reproduced in colour.
You May Also Like
