Close Associate of Adam Elsheimer, circa 1610

Sale, (date unknown), Basel, E. von Stremeyr, lot 5;
With Galerie Henneberg, Zurich;
Their sale, Munich, Helbing, 29 October 1903, lot 8 (as Jan Brueghel the Elder);
Acquired there or shortly afterwards by the grandfather of the present owner.

The following condition report is provided by Sarah Walden who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting is on a firm perfectly undented copper panel. There is no trace of any accidental damage. The delicate detail of the brushwork is in beautifully pristine condition, with the rich density of the oil sensed in every touch for instance in the contours of the foliage against the sky seen in a raking light, fresh and with scarcely any craquelure and no suspicion of loss or flaking past or present. The minutiae of the landscape and flora and fauna of every sort are described with miniature precision. The figure of St John is seen in a slightly different more diffused light, with modelling in a gentler touch. There is a minute craquelure throughout the figure, but it also has no hint of instability, or any damage or wear of any kind. The only sign of wear or retouching is in the middle of the base foreground and around the rock on which St John is seated. Elsewhere the condition is exceptionally intact and untouched throughout. This report was not done under laboratory conditions.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

While his artistic legacy is as wide, well-documented and studied as that of any other major painter of the time, details surrounding the actual working practice of, and following of, the enigmatic Adam Elsheimer remain frustratingly obscure. Certainly he did not run a studio or workshop with employees aiding or copying his work, but how closely he worked or collaborated with other master painters, and how involved he was with any talented followers, first in Venice in 1598, and later in Rome from 1600 until his death 10 years hence, is a question that still today, even after numerous exhibitions, studies and monographs, remains unanswered.

Such it is that scholars remain at odds even over a work of such obvious quality as this St John the Baptist in the wilderness. It is not only in its overall appearance but also in many of its details that the Elsheimer name resounds;  the background landscape recalls several of his early Roman subjects, such as the Edinburgh Stoning of St Stephen¹ which includes a tree remarkably similar in both conception and execution as that which protrudes from the far river bank here, and similarly the London Saint Lawrence prepared for Martyrdom² whose background foliage, and foreground grasses and thistles, are interchangeable with those in evidence in this copper; the Holy Family in Berlin which,³  the remarkably similar structure apart, includes the same pink-flowered vine behind its protagonist, the individual drooping tall grasses in the extreme foreground and, besides, a noticeable obsession with naturalistic detail; and perhaps most prominently the small copper of St. John the Baptist at Petworth⁴ where we see a familiar mise-en-scène, the figure of St. John with the lamb in the foreground and a river and wildlife in the middle-distance both of extraordinarily similar execution to that represented here (fig. 1). Other panels from the Petworth series provide equally close comparison, notably in the inclusion and execution of the naturalistic detailing. Finally, one of the neatest accords is made with the Brunswick Pietà⁵ (which is on a copper of precisely the same dimensions), not just in the handling of the foliage that provides a niche-like backdrop, but in the awkward relationship of the semi-naked figure to the rock that it leans against, not to mention the soft plasticity of the torso itself. The attribution of this latter, which is unanimously agreed upon, is supported by a preparatory drawing in Weimar and an entry in the inventory of Elsheimer's estate.

One aspect of the routine of Elsheimer and his circle that scholars do generally agree on is their custom of sending these small-scale works from one city to another, for a figure-painter to add a narrative to an already complete landscape. This copper may well be a case in point as the figure seems to sit 'on top' of the landscape, both to the naked eye and under inspection of infra-red reflectographs (available on request).

Prof. Rudiger Klessmann, curator of the 2006 Elsheimer exhibition at Dulwich, Edinburgh and Frankfurt, has inspected the painting in the original and believes it to be by a close follower of Elsheimer in Rome, possibly of Flemish origin.

1.  For the best reproduction see See R. Klessmann, Adam Elsheimer, exhibition catalogue, Dulwich/Frankfurt/Edinburgh 2006, pp. 98-101, cat. no. 19, reproduced.
2.  Ibid., pp. 94-7, cat. no. 18, reproduced.
3.  Ibid., pp. 62-5, cat. no. 7, reproduced.
4.  Ibid., pp. 116-23, cat. no. 21a, reproduced p. 117 (upper left), 118 (detail).
5.  Ibid., pp. 86-9, cat. no. 16, reproduced.