A bishop´s crozier

Details

Bartsch 106; Lehrs 105; Falk/Hirthe 105; The New Hollstein 105; Schmitt 105. Literature:
Colmar 1991, Unterlinden Museum, The Handsome Martin, cat. No. K. 115.

Descrizione

An excellent, deep black impression, only slightly missing at the edges of the upper crabs. The engraving has been trimmed within the image: the overall shaft below the tracery above Margaret, the King and Barbara (C. 13 cm) is missing. The paper around the scrolled foliage of the crook is trimmed in the shape of an octagon.
According to Tilman Falk, the engraving could have served not only as a model for painters, but also for goldsmiths. This is supported by the fact that the three-dimensional construction is completely unclear despite the single-view nature of the engraving. However, it cannot be completely ruled out that the engraving could have depicted a previously existing work.
Iconographically, however, there is no evidence for this. Martin Schongauer was very familiar with the goldsmith’s craft. It is assumed that he had spent his first apprenticeship in his father’s goldsmith’s workshop. Impressions of the bishop’s crozier are extremely rare: Lehrs, V, p. 358, still counts around 35 copies worldwide, most of them owned by museums, many of which are silhouetted or without a shaft. Only one other copy has been offered on the art market in the last 30 years. According to Lehrs, “impressions of the very first rank have apparently not survived”, but it is more likely that there were never any due to difficulties in printing (elongated vertical format of the plate). – Barely visible vertical centrefold, occasional faint spotting on the reverse, small pinhole, otherwise in very good condition.
Of utmost rarity!