Attributed to Hans Troschel

Cyril Ernest Kenney F.S.I. (1898–1973), London, 1948;

Private collection, England.

Possibly W. Schmidt, 'Andrea Albrecht', in J. Meyer (ed.), Allgemeines Künstler-Lexicon, Leipzig 1872, p. 234;

E. Weil, 'Andreas Albrecht, a seventeenth-century military surveyor', in Annals of Science, vol. 6, no. 1, 1948, pp. 44–45, reproduced plate 1 (as attributed to Hans Troschel).

This portrait depicts the celebrated Nuremberg military-surveyor and cartographer Andreas Albrecht (1586–1628), a known publisher of scientific tracts and inventor of scientific instruments. In this painting Albrecht is surrounded by the tools of his trade, including books that he had published on perspective and instruments which are known to have been designed by him.¹ The red rose held by the cartographer has been interpreted as a symbol of his membership of one of the numerous guilds of Nuremberg, many of which were named after the flora found in and around the city. Although the medallion portrait has previously been identified as that of Emperor Rudolf II, it is more likely to depict an as yet unidentified German princely patron of Albrecht.

The painting is attributed to the little-known artist Hans Troschel of Nuremberg (act. 1600–1624), who is primarily known as an engraver. The compositional format found here is reminiscent of an engraved portrait of the scientist and philosopher Fortunio Liceti (1577–1657), showing that Troschel favoured the inclusion of complex still life arrangements in his portraits.² Furthermore, Troschel had produced engravings for Albrecht's publication Zwey Bucher von der Perspectiva printed in Nuremberg in 1623, ample evidence to show that both men were professional acquaintances.

We are grateful to Wouter Bracke for his assistance in cataloguing this lot.

¹ Weil 1948 (See Literature).

² Engraving, 17 x 13 cm.; https://www.rct.uk/collection/670092/fortunio-liceti