(Riedlingen circa 1595 – circa 1637 Munich)
The Flagellation,
oil on panel, 46 x 43 cm, framed

We are grateful to Rainer Stüwe for his help in cataloguing the present painting. Stüwe examined the present painting in the original, comparing it face-to-face with the famous copies Vischer made in 1627 of the Apostle Panels by Albrecht Dürer in the Dürer Haus, Nuremberg. A certificate is available.

The painting is executed on a coniferous wood, which was the characteristic material used in south German painting during the early seventeenth century. Stüwe notes many stylistic similarities with known works by Vischer. An excellent point of reference is provided by the Munich Christ and the Adulteress (oil on coniferous wood, 69.6 x 109.7 cm, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlung, Munich, Inv. Nr. 1411). The Munich painting is highly detailed with elegant, cooler colouring and a very similar treatment of drapery especially in the clothes of the adulteress. This painting and the known corpus of his works provide enough stylistic evidence to give the present painting with certainty to Georg Vischer.

Vischer’s early training is not documented, but he became master in 1621 in Munich. A signed and dated copy after Bartholomäus Spranger demonstrates his activity in Munich as early as 1613. Vischer worked as court painter to the Elector Maximilian. He is considered a major protagonist of the later Dürer Renaissance.

From about 1570-1630, Europe witnessed a resurgence of interest in the Nuremberg artist, Albrecht Dürer (1471-1529). Later called the “Dürer Renaissance,” this revival resulted in numerous copies after the artist’s works and imitations of his style. This phenomenon flourished among artists and collectors throughout Europe, but Nuremberg and Prague served as its artistic centres. Nuremberg housed many of Dürer’s works, and by 1583 Prague was home to the Imperial Court of Emperor Rudolf II, an ardent admirer of the artist.