Lot 174: Hans Schöpfer I (Münich c . 1505-1569)

Hans Schöpfer I (Münich c. 1505-1569)
Portrait of a gentleman, half-length, in a black doublet and hat, and a fur-lined silk mantle, holding a document, at a ledge; and Portrait of a lady, in a red dress and head-dress, with gold chains and a jewelled brooch and rings, at a ledge
the former inscribed 'H 15' (lower left, on the document); the latter dated '1531' (lower left)
oil on panel
25½ x 19 7/8 in. (64.8 x 50.2 cm.)
a pair (2)

P. Buberl, 'Die Denkmale des politischen Bezirks Zwerrl. Part I: Gerichtsbezirk Allentsteig', in Österreichische Kunsttopographie, Vienna, VIII, 1911, p. 92ff.
F. Dworschak, 'Die Bildnisse', in F. Dworschak and H. Kühnel, eds., Die Gotik in Niederösterreich, Vienna, 1963, p. 159ff.
F. Dworschak, 'Der Meister der Historia (Niclas Preu): Niederösterreich und Nachbargebiete', in Die Kunst der Donauschule, 1490-1540, Linz and St. Florian, 1965, p. 97.
K. Löcher, review of the exhibition 'Die Kunst der Donauschule, 1490-1540', in Pantheon, XXIII, p. 346.
K. Löcher, 'Studien zur oberdeutschen Bildnismalerei des 16. Jahrhunderts', in Jahrbuch der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen in Baden-Wërttemberg, IV, 1967, p. 60 and 62, notes 1 and 144, figs. 39 and 40.
K. Löcher, 'Hans Schöpfer der Ältere: Ein Müncher Maler des 16. Jahrhunderts', Ars Bavarica, LXXIII/LXXIV, Munich, 1995, p. 16ff., illustrated p. 14.

The Counts of Lamberg, Schloss Ottenstein, Lower Austria, in the gallery of ancestral portraits.
Private collection, South Germany, from circa 1957-8.
Anonymous sale; Lempertz, Cologne, 19 November 2005, lots 1141 and 1142.
Anonymous sale; Lempertz, Cologne, 19 May 2007, lots 1141 and 1142.

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It is recorded that the male portrait once bore the identifying inscription 'Melchior von Lamberg Frey Herr zu Orttenegg und Ortenstein Röm. Kay: May; Cammerer Vnd Obrist Hoffmarschalch So Anno 1536 die Herrschaft Ottenstein von den Stodalickhischen Geschlecht ErKhaufft hat'. This identification has been questioned, however, as in 1531 Melchior von Lamberg was already sixty years old; Kaspar von Lamberg has been proposed as an alternative candidate. Löcher has compared the male portrait to Schöpfer's Portrait of Ludwig X of Bavaria (Vienna, Collection of Princely House of Liechtenstein).