Johann König

Franz Lothar von Schönborn, Pommersfelden Castle;

By whom sold, Paris, Galerie de Pommersfelden, 17 May 1867, lot 256;

With Thomas Grange, London;

From whom acquired, circa 1960.  

Katalog der Gräflich von Schönborn'sche Bilder-Gallerie zu Pommersfelden, Würzburg 1857, p. 29, cat. no. 208;

G. Partey, Deutscher Bildersaal, Verzeichnis der in Deutschland vorhandenen Ölbilder verstorbener Maler aller Schulen, vol. 1, Berlin 1863, p. 672. cat. no. 1.

The German artist Johann König is best known for his small-scale works on copper, such as the present signed example of Rebecca and Eliezer at the well. König is documented by at least 1610 in Rome, where he came under the influence of Adam Elsheimer and Paul Bril. The present copper likely dates to about 1614, the year he settled back in Augsburg where he became master of the painter’s guild. König's works are characterized by a crisp coloration, a meticulous attention to detail, and a luminous quality, all of which are visible in the present copper. Comparable examples include his Panoramic Landscape with the Flight Into Egypt¹ and his Landscape with Tobias and the Angel of slightly larger dimensions in the Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe. 

We are grateful to Dr. Gode Krämer for his assistance in the cataloguing of the present lot and for suggesting a date of circa 1614.

1. Oil on copper, 32.5 by 49.5 cm. Anonymous sale ("The Property of a Gentleman"), London, Sotheby’s, 7 December 2005, lot 28.

2. Inv. no. 1410, oil on copper, 41 by 61 cm.