Lot 48: Hans Süss von Kulmbach (Kulmbach circa 1485-1522 Nuremberg)

Saint Hubert and Saint George
with false Lucas van Leyden monogram (recto) and with number 'N 12.' on the backing
pen and brown ink, grey wash, watermark bull's head
8 3/8 x 7 1/4 in. (213 x 184 mm.)

Barbara Butts notes of the present drawing that 'The proportions of the figures of Saint Hubert and Saint George suggest that the drawing is circa 1511. The facial and figural types, the articulation of the hands and hair, and the fall of the drapery are all entirely characteristic of Hans von Kulmbach. So too is the delicate application of the pen and ink lines and of the broad washes. The beautifully rendered stag's head, with it's precise penwork in combination with broadly applied washes, represents Kulmbach's draughtsmanship at its best'. We are grateful to Barbara Butts for confirming the attribution and for her assistance in preparing this note.
The drawing is close in style and execution to the roundel Women in a Bathhouse with a Fool, in the Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt (B. Butts, 'The Drawings of Hans Süss von Kulmbach', Master Drawings, XLIV, 2006, no. A39, p. 145, fig. 28). Both show a sophisticated use of grey wash to give depth, volume and shadows to the figures within the pen and brown ink. An abundance of preparatory studies for glass paintings and altar pieces survive by Kulmbach. Among the former we find designs for roundels of saints; see for instance those of Saints Ambrose, Augustine and Jerome in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden (B. Butts, op. cit., nos. A 41-43, figs. 75-77). Stylistically these show a strong formal attachment to Dürer. Kulmbach soon asserts his originality in details such as the individuality of the heads of the saints. Notable also is the similarity between the head of Saint Hubert in the present drawing and that of the Magus in the British Museum, a study figure in the Ketzel Family window in the Saint Sebaldus Church, Nuremberg (B. Butts, op. cit., no. A70, p. 14, fig. 31).