Lot 320: Stephan Kessler (Vienna 1622 - 1700 Brixen) Diana

Stephan Kessler (Vienna 1622 - 1700 Brixen) Diana and Acteon, monogrammed in the dog's collar at lower left SK, oil on panel, 50 x 88.5 cm, trimmed, framed, (Wo) Literature: A. W. Vliegenthart, "Einige Bemerkungen zu Rembrandts Aktaon und Kallisto", in: Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek, 1972, repr. p. 89. Stephan (I) Kessler is the progenitor of the family of painters of the same name active in the region of Bressanone in the South Tyrol. Numerous paintings by him have survived, primarily altarpieces in churches in the Tyrol and Salzburg. However, he also worked as a theatre painter. Kessler belongs to the generation of Tyrolean artists active during the transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque. He studied predominantly Rubens, and in his pictures of martyrs refer to Ribera. He had a preference for narrative and genre-like elements. His landscapes are a successful blend of Netherlandish and Italian approaches. He was also a skilful figure painter: his somewhat chubby and clearly outlined figures are superbly drawn and delicately modelled. All of the typical features of Stephan Kessler's art are united within the present painting, which is all the more appealing as it is one of the rare examples in his oeuvre dealing with profane subject matter. The view of a landscape offered in our composition is treated generously and executed with charming detail, while the figures, particularly that of Diana and her attendants, clearly reveal Italian models.