Spanish, early 17th century | Pair of Busts of Apostles (One, Saint James of Compostella)

Please note that this lot will be sent to our Greenford Park warehouse following the sale.

Private collection, Madrid, 1926;
Paul Cassirer, Berlin, 1928;
Goal Arts Ltd, Bahamas;
George Encil collection;
Sotheby's London, 13 December 1990, lots 36-37;
Sotheby's London, 12 December 2003, lot 219;
the present owner

A. L. Mayer, 'Unknown Spanish Masterpieces', in The Arts News, New York, May 1927, XXV, no. 52, p.66;
A. L. Mayer, 'Some unpublished works by El Greco,' in The International Studio, New York, November 1928, pp. 21-22, 88;
O. Wertheimer, 'Eine norddeutsche Plastik aus dem Anfang des 17. Jahrhunderts' in Pantheon, 5, 1930, p. 218;
K. Stork, 'Jürgen Kriebel, Hofbildhauer zu Glückstadt' in Nordelbingen, 21, 1953, p. 111;
Experience and Adventures of a Collector, ACR Edition Internationale, Courbevoie, 1989, pp. 334-339;
A. Saliger and W. Kuba-Hauk, Dom- und Diözesan Museum Wien, Vienna, 1987, pp. 224-226;
A. Radcliffe, M. Baker and M. Maek-Gérard, The Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection: Renaissance and later sculpture, London, 1992, pp. 432-434, no. 85

Dom- und Diözesanmuseum, Vienna, 1987

These intriguing busts of Apostles were attributed to El Greco by A. L. Mayer, who first saw them, together with two further busts (now destroyed) in a Madrid private collection. Mayer published the group of busts as having been cut down from larger figures formerly in the church of Caridad, Illescas, which had been badly damaged in the Spanish Civil War. The busts were subsequently published as Northern German by Wertheimer (op. cit.), who attributed them to Ludwig Münstermann; Stork (op. cit.) ascribed them to Georg Kriebel. Saliger and Kuba-Hauk published the present busts as Spanish, and didn't dismiss the attribution to El Greco. Malcolm Baker published the Thyssen and the present busts as probably Spanish, circa 1600-1620. He cited the use of chestnut and the Madrid provenance as important factors in determining the busts as Spanish. Baker pointed out that the busts are dissimilar to the few sculptures convincingly given to El Greco, including the Risen Christ in the Hospital de Tavera, Toledo, and the St Ildefonso relief in Toledo cathedral. The busts, which, as Mayer noted, are cut down from larger figures, recall late 16th-century Spanish Mannerist sculpture. With their unusual, emaciated faces, and cartaceous drapery, there is a certain resemblance to paintings by El Greco, but it is more likely that they herald from an as yet unidentified workshop within his orbit.