Circle of Hans Holbein the Younger

Peter Vischer, Basel, circa 1820;
sale, Bern, Gutekunst & Klipstein, 28 April 1955, lot 390 (as Swiss School, 16th Century), where purchased by
Dr. Hugo von Ziegler (1890-1966);
sale, New York, Sotheby's, 28 January 2009, lot 7 (as Attributed to Christian Bockstorffer);
Sir Timothy Clifford (bears his mark, not in Lugt)

This unusually large and splendid design for a painted glass panel belongs to a great Swiss tradition of drawings made for this purpose.  Inspired by Hans Holbein, among others, several generations of early and mid-16th century Swiss artists specialised in making designs for this art form, which enjoyed particular popularity in Switzerland during this period.  Dr. Hugo von Ziegler, who previously owned the drawing, was a scholar as well as a collector, and organised significant exhibitions on Swiss glass designs, working in collaboration with Dr. Friedrich Thöne. 

When Ziegler acquired the drawing in 1955 the subject had not been recognised, but Thöne identified it beyond any doubt by comparison with an illustration in Johann Ludwig Gottfried's Historische Chronica, published by Matthaeus Merian in Frankfurt in 1636.¹  There, a very similar scene is linked to a text, originally deriving from Livy, in which Theoxena and Archo, the children of Herodicus, are condemned to death by Phillip of Macedon.  They attempt to flee to safety by boat, but finding themselves pursued by Phillip in another ship, choose to throw themselves overboard to their deaths rather than be captured.  In 1574 an edition of Livy was published in Strasbourg with illustrations by Tobias Stimmer, one of which is loosely derived from the present composition.  Subjects from Livy were particularly popular in the early 16th Century in the Upper Rhine region.  In Thöne's opinion, the drawing must have been made around 1540 in the area of Constance, and he suggested a tentative attribution to Christian Bockstorffer, though no examples of compelling stylistic comparisons can be cited.

1.  Manuscript catalogue by Thöne of the Ziegler Collection, consulted prior to the 2009 sale.