- Museum number
- SL,5218.193
- Description
-
The Virgin and Child and St Ulrich, with the ecclesiastical and family arms of Dompropst Marquard von Stein; Virgin and Child at l, St Ulrich at r, between them two shields of arms surmounted by a helmet and acanthus leaves topped by a crescent and fans of peacock feathers, ecclesiastics and buildings behind with winged cherub heads beneath, a blank cartouche beneath, circular border, in a roundel
Pen and brown ink, with watercolour, with traces of black chalk
- Production date
- 16thC(early)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 317 millimetres
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Width: 317 millimetres (diameter)
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- Summary of J. Rowlands, 'Drawings by German Artists and Artists from German-speaking regions of Europe in the Department of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum: the Fifteenth Century, and the Sixteenth Century by Artists born before 1530', London, BM Press, 1993, no.77:
'Waagen first published this drawing with an attribution to Mathis Grünewald, whose works were little known at the time. The attribution was abandoned in the British Museum ‘Guide’ of 1901 in favour of one to Beham, which was confirmed by Parker in 1928. Assuredly this design is one of the finest of its kind by Sebald Beham. Parker incorrectly identified the arms as those of two families, von Stein and von Thüngen. The correct identification was made by J.M. Friesenegger, who recognised them as belonging to Dompropst Marquard von Stein. The heraldic details can be related to the ecclesiastic offices that he held. The arms on the left with the colours of the Hochstift, Augsburg, were granted by the Emperor in 1511 to the Cathedral Chapter of Augsburg for the use of the Dompropst when Lang von Wellenburg held the office. The Virgin stands behind these arms as the patroness of the Augsburg Chapter. Marquard von Stein was Dompropst at Bamberg from 1509 to 1559 and Dompropst at Augsburg from 1519 to 1559. His connection with Bamberg is represented by the presence in the upper left-hand corner of the Emperor Heinrich II and his Queen, Kunigunda, holding a model of Bamberg cathedral as they appear in the arms of the Metropolitan Chapter of Bamberg. In the upper right-hand corner are the patron saints of Augsburg, St Ulrich and St Afra. St Ulrich (c. 890-973), Bishop of Augsburg, is represented again below giving a gold coin to a kneeling beggar. This action characterised the saint, whose particular concern for the poor is recognised in the ‘Vita St Udalrici’, written by a contemporary, Dompropst Gebhard (‘Acta Sanctorum’, 11 July [1721], pp. 97-131). In a heraldic design, now in Copenhagen (Statens Museum for Kunst, Kongelige Kobberstiksamling), executed by Beham for von Stein, the family arms of von Stein are shown as twin helms crested on the right with a mitre on a cushion, decorated with St Martin and the beggar, and on the left, with the reversed axe-blade with two plumes of peacock's feathers, the crest as used in the present drawing. Repetitions of Marquard von Stein's arms in this style are to be found in the heraldic woodcut, attributed by Geisberg to Vogtherr the Elder, the impression of which in Erlangen was reproduced by Friesenegger (op. cit. pl. 5), and are also seen on the reverse of his portrait medal of 1549, by Joachim Deschler (active 1532-71). Friesenegger's elucidations of details in the present drawing are given further support by the appearance of the arms on the Dompropst's monument, now in the cloisters of Augsburg cathedral. '
Lit from Rowlands 1993: Waagen, Treasures, i, 1854, p. 234, no. 193; BM Guide, 1860, p. 11, no. 77, BM Guide, 1901, p. 17, no. A.79; BM Guide, 1928, p. 39, no. 334; K.T. Parker, OMD, iii, no. 10, Sept. 1928, p. 34, repr.; J.M. Friesenegger, Schwäbische Museum, 1930, Heft I, pp. 1ff, repr.; Rowlands, Dürer, p. 52, no. 328.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
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1860 BM London, Guide Drawing&Prints, King’s Library, no. 77
1901, BM London, Guide Drawings&Sketches Old Masters, no. A79
1928 BM London, Guide Woodcuts, Drawings of A. Dürer, no. 334
1971, BM, Dúrer no.328
- Acquisition date
- 1753
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- SL,5218.193
- Additional IDs
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Miscellaneous number: C,07.193
