Circle of Bartholomeus Spranger

Johann Martin Friedrich Geissler (1778-1853), Nuremberg and Paris (L.1072),

his posthumous sale, Leipzig, R. Weigel, 10 June 1861 and following days, lot 1170 (‘B. Spranger. Diana mit einer Nymph, als Barock-Medallion. Feder und Tusche. 4” 6”’ hoch, 4”’ breit.’);

Iohan Quirijn van Regteren Altena (1899-1980), Amsterdam (L.4617),

by inheritance to his widow, Augusta Louisa Wilhelmina van Regteren Altena, née van Royen (1906-2006), Amsterdam,

thence by family descent until sale, Amsterdam, Christie's, The I.Q. van Regteren Altena Collection Part II. Dutch and Flemish drawings from 1500 to 1900, 10 December 2014, lot 111

T. Gerszi, Paulus van Vianen Handzeichnungen, Hanau 1982, cat. F.1, fig. 130 (as wrongly attributed to Van Vianen)

This fine drawing was long attributed to the Flemish painter and printmaker Bartholomeus Spranger (1546-1611), and does indeed seem to be the work of a good German or Netherlandish Mannerist. The influence of Spranger, who was active in Rome, Vienna and Prague, was extremely wide-ranging. With its unusual shape, this small drawing may have been intended as a design for a part of a work of silverware, which is also suggested by the fact that the sheet has been washed red on the verso, to aid in transferring the image.

The inscription on the reverse indicates that the drawing was previously owned by the 19th-century German engraver and draughtsman Johann Martin Friedrich Geissler (1778-1853). Geissler trained in his native Nuremberg, and between 1803 and 1814 worked in Paris as a landscape and reproductive engraver. His signature is found on a number of 16th and 17th century prints in museum collections, and it is thought that, alongside his work as a printmaker, he may also have dealt in Old Master prints.