Master of the Harburger Altar, German, Bayerisch-Schwaben, circa 1515

Jacob Oppenheimer, Galerie Van Diemen, Berlin;
their forced sale, Auktionshaus Dr. Walther Achenbach, Berlin, 30 September 1937, lot 823, pl. 20;
Gebr. Heinemann, Wiesbaden;
Dr. B. Griebert, Konstanz;
Swiss private collection;
Auktionshaus Koller, Zurich, 21-28 November 1985, lot 1405, pl. 4;
Württembergisches Landesmuseum, Stuttgart (inv. no. 1986-81);
Restituted to the heirs of Jacob and Rosa Oppenheimer, 2011

'Württembergisches Landesmuseum, Neuerwerbungen 1986', Jahrbuch des Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen in Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart, 24 (1987), pp. 199-200, fig.10;
A. Miller, 'Der Bildhauer des Harburger Altars', Bayerische Schlösser. Bewahren und Erforschen. Gerhard Hojer zum 60. Geburtstag, Munich, 1996, pp. 10-11;
C. Lichte and H. Meurer, Die mittelalterlichen Skulpturen. 2. Stein- und Holzskulpturen 1400-1530. Ulm und südliches Schwaben, Stuttgart, 2007, vol. 1, no. 147, pp. 269-70, vol. 2, pp. 188-9;

Overall the condition of the wood is good. There is wear and dirt to the surface consistent with age. A layer of later paint seems to have been removed thereby also taking away much of the original paint and ground. The lamb was not stripped. After this treatment the current colour scheme was applied. There is a loss to the proper right foreleg of the lamb. The lamb's proper right ear and possibly St. John's left foot and the big toe of the right foot are replaced. There are a few minor losses to the hair and some particular wear to the high points on the drapery folds. There are a few minor losses due to naturally occurring splitting to the base, one of which on the front was wedged. There is some further minor splitting to the lamb. Certain areas of the base may have been recarved. A number of nails are in the right side of the base.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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St. John the Baptist is represented here with a virtuosity and vigour that characterises only the very best limewood sculpture of Germany. Given its quality, and because it is nearly life-size, the figure must have had a dominant place on a major early 16^th-century altarpiece.

The saint is shown with his feet planted firmly on a circular, grassy mound. His long curled hair and beard frame a face with articulated cheekbones, a furrowed brow and an intense gaze. The carving of the expansive dynamic drapery compares with that of great limewood sculptors such as Hans Leinberger and Veit Stoss. The curving folds on St John's proper right serve as an emphasis and animation of the figure's slight contrapposto, whilst the crumpled drapery cascading over his right arm subtly balances the whole. A further outstanding feat of carving is the interplay of different textures employed throughout the statue: looking downwards from the uncovered torso the tightly wound curls of the Lamb of God contrast with the smooth fabric of the cloak. The latter is, in turn, intertwined with rough animal hide towards the feet.

Stylistically, parallels with Veit Stoss are evident. Stoss' St. Andrew, carved around 1500-1510 for the Church of St. Sebald in Nuremberg has a comparable facial type and composition of the drapery. However, Stoss' interest in the exaggeration of anatomical details such as wrinkles and veins and generally more weighty drapery vary from the present sculpture. Albrecht Miller (op.cit.) therefore suggests that the present St. John was made by an independent master. He associates the figure with a group of carvings that possibly formed a large altarpiece for the church at Schloss Harburg, a castle belonging to the House of Oettingen-Wallerstein. The statue of St. Michael that remains there and a Virgin and Child now kept in a Baroque church on the land of the owners of the Schloss certainly display the same crispness and interchange of the winding folds and crumples. Since each figure is about the same size and the Schlosskirche is known to have contained relics from each of the saints, this is a viable hypothesis.

The large animal head that rests on the base can be identified as a camel's head and is part of an iconographic tradition based on Matthew 3:14, where the saint is described as having worn camel skin. The motif can be found on a number of early 16^th-century South German sculptures, for example Jörg Lederer's St John the Baptist in Munich (inv. no. R6881) and a Middle-Rhenish version in Darmstadt (inv. no. Pl 09:05). As other compositional elements are repeated in these figures of St. John as well, there may have been a common source, probably a print.

RELATED LITERATURE
T. Müller, Die Bildwerke in Holz, Ton und Stein vond der Mitte des XV. bis gegen Mitte des XVI. Jahrhunderts, cat. Bayerischen Nationalmuseums, Munich, 1959, pp. 250-251, no. 256; G. Bott, Veit Stoß in Nürnberg. Werke des Meisters und seiner Schule in Nürnberg und Umgebung, Munich, 1983, pp. 259-268, no. 21; A. Miller, 'Der Bildhauer des Harburger Altars', Bayerische Schlösser. Bewahren und Erforschen. Gerhard Hojer zum 60. Geburtstag, Munich, 1996, pp. 9-16; M. Woelk, Bildwerke vom 9. bis zum 16. Jahrhundert aus Stein, Holz und Ton im Hessischen Landesmuseum Darmstadt, cat. Hessischen Landesmuseum Darmstadt, Stuttgart, 2000, pp. 449-453, no. 102