HANS SCHÄUFELEIN | The Adoration of the Magi

Painted for members of the Order of Saint John (including members of the family of the Counts of Oettingen), for the Church of Saint John the Baptist, Kleinerdlingen, circa 1520;
Church of Saint Michael, Holheim, from at least 1783;
Gifted to a civil servant in 1822 (according to Mayer 1890, see Literature);
Joseph Schlotthauer (1789-1869), Munich;
From whom acquired by Professor Dr. Johann Nepomuk Sepp (1816-1909), Munich, by 1869;
Professor Dr. Egon Ritter von Oppolzer (1869-1907), Innsbruck, by at least 1896;
His sale, Munich, Hugo Helbing, 3 December 1906, lot 15;
Theodor Schwartz (1870-1946), Bocholt, by 1931;
Anonymous sale, Cologne, Kunsthaus am Museum-Köln (Carola Van Ham), 24 March 1976, lot 1440;
Private collection, Cologne;
Whence acquired by the present owner.

Munich, Kunstausstellungsgebäude gegenüber der Glyptothek, Ausstellung von Gemälden älterer Meister, 1869, no. 40;
Augsburg, Schwäbischen Kreis-, Industrie-, Gewerbe- und Kunsthistorischen Ausstellung, 1886, no. 99.

F.W. Doppelmayr, 'Gemählde des H. Scheufelins befinden sich…', (Nr. d), 1800 (according to an annotation in Kohler 1828; see Metzger 2002, p. 400);
J.C.S.A. Kohler, 'Beiträge zur Geschichte der Malerei in Oberdeutschland', in Eos. Münchener Blätter für Literatur und Kunst, vol. 12, 1828, p. 691, no. 7;
R.L. von Rettberg, Nürnberger Briefe zur Geschichte der Kunst, Hannover 1846, pp. 170-71, note 1;
J. Sighart, Geschichte der Bildenden Künste im Königreich Bayern von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart, Munich 1862, p. 632;
W. Lotz, Kunst-Topographie Deutschlands, vol. 2, Süd-Deutschland, Kassel 1863, p. 186;
R. Muther, 'Hans Schäufelein', in Gesammelte Studien zur Kunstgeschichte. Eine Festgabe zum 4. Mai 1885 für Anton Springer, Leipzig 1885, p. 168;
L. Scheibler, 'Die Altdeutschen Gemälde auf der schwäbischen Kreisausstellung zu Augsburg 1886', in Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft, vol. 10, 1887, p. 29;
C. Mayer, 'Schäufelin', in Allgemeine deutsche Biographie, vol. 30, Leipzig 1890, p. 631;
U. Thieme, Hans Leonhard Schäufeleins malerische Thätigkeit, Leipzig 1892, pp. 92-95, and p. 170, cat. no. 24;
H. Modern, 'Der Mömpelgarter Flügelaltar des Hans Leonard Schäufelein und der Meister von Messkirch', in Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen des Allerhöchsten Kaiserhauses, vol. 17, 1896, p. 364 and pp. 366-67;
K. Höss, Fürst Johann II. von Liechtenstein und die bildende Kunst, Vienna 1908, p. 44;
S. Beissel, Gefälschte Kunstwerke, Freiburg im Breisgau 1909, p. 4;
G.C. Bauman, in Liechtenstein, The Princely Collections, exh. cat., New York 1985, p. 237, under cat. no. 150;
J. Genck-Bosch, Hans Schäufelin. Ein Nördlinger Stadtmaler, Zürich and Munich 1988, pp. 26ff;
L. Altmann, in Marienlexikon, R. Bäumer and L. Scheffczyk, vol. 5, St. Ottilien 1993, p. 693;
C. Metzger, 'Ein Weihnachtsaltar Hans Schäufelins aus der Johanniter-Kirche Kleinerdlingen', in Kirche und Kunst, vol. 2, 1995, pp. 27-31;  
C. Metzger, Der Christgartener Altar des Hans Schäufelin – Sein Bildprogramm und seine Rekonstruktion, in Analecta Cartusiana, vol. 135, Salzburg 1996, pp. 71-72;
B. Vollmar, G. Paula and C. Kociumaka, Stadt Nördlingen, Ensembles, Baudenkmäler, Archäologische Denkmäler, in Denkmäler in Bayern, vol. VII. 90/2, Munich 1998, p. 252;
C. Metzger, Hans Schäufelin als Maler, Berlin 2002, pp. 126-28 and 396-401, cat. no. 45d, reproduced p. 128, fig. 100, and p. 398, fig. 305;
M. Kamps, 'Notizen zum Kriegsschicksal Bocholter Kunstsammlungen. Die Sammlung Theodor Schwartz', in Unser Bocholt, vol. 54, 2003, p. 72. For discussion of the Kleinerdlingen altarpiece in general, see:

G.F. Waagen, Kunstwerke und Künstler in Deutschland, Leipzig 1843, vol. II, pp. 362-63;
E. Buchner, 'Schäufelein', in Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zum gegenwart, U. Thieme and F. Becker (eds), vol. 29, Leipzig 1935, p. 558;
H. Mahn, 'Beiträge spätgotischen Tafelmalerei in Wörttemberg', in Zeitschreift des deutschen Vereins für Kunstwissenschaft, vol. 9, 1942, p. 184;
R. Baumstark, Deutsche Malerei 15.-19. Jahrhundert aus den Sammlungen des rigierenden Fürsten von Liechtenstein, exh. cat., Vaduz 1979, p. 34, under cat. no. 7;
R. Baumstark, Masterpieces from the collection of the Princes of Liechtenstein, exh. cat., Zürich and Munich 1980, p. 281, under cat. no. 128.

The following condition report has been provided by Karen Thomas of Thomas Art Conservation LLC., 336 West 37th Street, Suite 830, New York, NY 10018, 212-564-4024, info@thomasartconservation.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting is in very good condition overall. The paint layers are generally well preserved however, generous retouching has been applied to strengthen areas of normal age-related increased transparency in the browns and to address thinness in the flesh passages. In the figures' faces, the loose retouching flattens the modeling and softens the details. Narrow stripes of retouching are also found along the joins. Small flake losses are clustered around the hair and head of the left-most magus. Cracks have developed along joins and along the top and bottom of the panel, with some adjacent lifting and losses in the paint. On the back of the panel a cradle has been attached and a variety of wood blocks have been adhered to address cracking that dates after the addition of the cradle, which itself has been adjusted to accommodate movement of the panel. This suggests the cradle is putting excessive pressure on the support, a frequent issue with cradles. The varnish doesn't sufficiently saturate the pigments. While the current aesthetic state is acceptable, cleaning and a more precise restoration would better accentuate the strengths of the painting, particularly in the faces of the figures. Further structural intervention to address cracks and possibly to remove the cradle may be advisable.
"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."

Hans Schäufelein was one of the most gifted pupils of arguably the greatest artist of the Northern Renaissance, Albrecht Dürer, and was among those who most successfully translated his master’s artistic legacy into his own visual language. This painting originally made up part of an altarpiece which Schäufelein executed for the church in Kleinerdlingen, on the outskirts of Nördlingen, in modern-day Bavaria, where Schäufelein moved in 1515 to establish his own workshop and become the municipal painter. Perhaps best known today for his graphic works, Schäufelein’s paintings are relatively rare. As such, the present panel is a high-quality and important testament to the moment when Schäufelein had founded his independent practice and was serving local patrons, including the counts of Oettingen, which he would continue to do until his death, between 1537 and 1540. Schäufelein was probably born in Nuremberg in the early 1480s, and was employed in Dürer’s workshop from circa 1503 for around four years, during which time he executed works such as the monumental Passion altarpiece for the Elector Frederick the Wise of Saxony and his brother Johann the Steadfast, for the Schlosskirche at Wittenberg – a commission for which Dürer had made the designs, but the execution of which he entrusted to the talented young Schaufelein.¹ Schäufelein next went to the studio of Hans Holbein the Elder in Augsburg, where he worked in 1507 to 1508. He journeyed to southern Tyrol between 1508 and 1510 and was back in Augsburg from 1511 until at least 1514, before moving to Nördlingen.

This painting is one of six panels which originally constituted the altarpiece in the church of Saint John the Baptist in Kleinerdlingen.² It is one of four almost square paintings which formed the center of the retable, one on top of the other (or in two pairs of two as wings of a triptych, with a carved central section), depicting scenes from the childhood of Christ: The Annunciation and The Nativity, along with the two monumental wings depicting Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist (156.5 by 66.2 cm.), still reside in the church of Saint Michael, Holheim (close to Kleinerdlingen), where the altarpiece was moved by at least 1783; the other panel, depicting The Visitation, was removed from the church along with the present work in 1822; the paintings shared the same provenance until the 1906 auction of the Oppolzer collection, when The Visitation was acquired for the Princely Collections of Liechtenstein in Vaduz.³

Metzger notes that some of Schäufelein’s compositions for this altarpiece – the columned interior in which The Annunciation is set, and the architectural ruins in The Nativity and the present scene, for example – may have been inspired by a small altarpiece by Friedrich Herlin (Nördlingen’s previous principal painter), circa 1460, for the chapel of the Kaisheimer Hauses in Tändelmarkt in Nördlingen.⁴ What the present painting and the other panels from the altarpiece demonstrate above all, however, is Schäufelein’s skill in depicting well-observed details and ability to convey narrative. Here, we observe that the folds and different textures of the figures’ garments, such as Balthasar’s knotted belt, are lovingly rendered; moreover, the scene is brought to life through the touching glances between the figures: Melchior and Balthasar, having respectfully removed his hat, converse on the left, while Caspar carefully observes how the Child receives his gift. By the time Schäufelein set up his workshop in Nördlingen he had developed his distinctive style – characterized by large-scale, relief-like figures, which are defined by soft, painterly modelling in a colorful palette – that is exemplified in this work.

Most scholars have been of the opinion that the Kleinerdlinger altarpiece dates to circa 1518-20 (although Buchner, in 1935, dated them to 1525-32). By comparing stylistic and technical similarities between the underdrawing of The Visitation panel with several of Schäufelein’s graphic works, Maryan Ainsworth has dated the panels to the early 1520s. On the other hand, Christof Metzger believes they probably come from circa 1516, namely before the death of one of the donors, Wilhelm von Bodman, in that year (see note 2). Metzger compares the quality of the painting with Schäufelein’s works from circa 1515, such as the St. Gallen Holy Family, in which the delicately applied glazes, flowing folds of the garments, and soft, rounded faces find analogies in the present panel.⁵

1.  Vienna, Diozesan Museum; see Metzger 2002, pp. 98-103 and 235-44, cat. no. 9, reproduced figs 71-74 and 164-68.

2.  The presence of donors and their coats-of-arms in The Annunciation and The Nativity panels indicates that this altarpiece was commissioned by members of the Order of Saint John: two counts from the house of Oettingen (most probably memorial portraits of the brothers Ludwig (1306-28) and Friedrich (1312-19), since no member of the Oettingen family is known to have been a member of the Order in the early 16th century), and Commanders Wilhelm von Bodman (d. 1516), and Hans Eitel von Wernau (in office 1516-40). The donor in the lower left of The Nativity, Commander Konrad von Rosenbach (1602-42), is a 17th-century addition.

3.  See Metzger 2002, pp. 126-28 and 396-401, cat. no. 45, reproduced figs 100 and 302-307; the Liechtenstein Visitation panel is reproduced in color, fig. 146 and on the cover of the book.

4.  Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe, inv. Nos 2262a and b, 2277 and 2278; see K. Martin, ‘Ein unbekannter Altar von Friedrich Herlin und seine Herkunft’, in Münchner Jahrbuch der bildenden Kunst, no. 3, vol. 2, 1951, pp. 89-104, reproduced.

5.  St. Gallen, Depositum der Stiftsbibliothek in der Bischöflichen Kunstsammlung, inv. no. 22; see Metzger 2002, pp. 357-58, cat. no. 36, reproduced fig. 264.