Lot 71: CIRCLE OF BALTHASAR PERMOSER (1651-1732)

CRISTO MORTO

overall: 67cm., 26 3/8 in.

fruitwood, on a metal stand

<P>German, circa 1700</P>

This finely carved corpus is characterized by the elongated torso and broad swathes of drapery moving away from the body combined with tight curls and gatherings of material. Compare this with the drapery on the ivory Cristo Vivo by Balthasar Permoser dating to 1685 in the Kunstgewerbe Museum, Leipzig, illustrated by Asche plates 49 and 50.

After training in Italy between 1675 and 1690, Permoser returned to his native Germany where he became court sculptor to Augustus the Strong, King of Saxony. He and his workshop produced finely carved small scale sculpture in wood and ivory as well as numerous large scale pieces in stone and marble.

RELATED LITERATURE
S. Asche, Balthasar Permoser, Berlin 1978, plate 50, 51