Welsberg 1698–1762 Vienna)
The triumph of Christ, oil on canvas, 54 x 79 cm, framed,

Dr. Johann Kronbichler, Brixen, who is working on the catalogue raisonné of Paul Troger has confirmed the authenticity of the painting and will include it in the catalogue raisonné. It is the bozzetto of a ceiling fresco in the Gottesackerkapelle St. Niklas, Landstrasse, Vienna, destroyed in 1786.

Provenance: Bassenge auction, Berlin, 27.11.1998, lot 5834; Marco Riccomini collection, Milan; private collection, Rome.

This impressive painting exemplifies Troger’s outstanding, forward-looking artistic stance. During a lengthy stay in Italy before 1722, he studied under various people, including Sebastiano Ricci in Venice and Francesco Solimena in Naples. Solimena’s loose painting with its powerful colours became the key influence in Troger’s oeuvre. In 1727/28 he produced his first important work, the high altar and cupola fresco for the Cajetan Church in Salzburg. Later on, based in Vienna, he produced fresco cycles for several monasteries in Lower Austria. His last great work was the ceiling fresco for the cathedral in Brixen. The present painting was executed in this period of flourishing before 1754, and was probably a preparatory study for a ceiling painting. Between 1754 and 1757 Troger was the Rector of the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Vienna. He deliberately employed light and colour as compositional elements. It is often the allegorical figures which act as ‘sources of light’. In our picture the source of light emanates from the head of the risen, triumphant Christ, whereas the enemies of faith are cleverly foreshortened by means of perspective and rush headlong into the abyss at the lower edge of the painting. In comparison with Daniel Gran who was classically minded, in Troger’s work, in particular in these elements of composition, it is noticeable that the expressive has been intensified. This was taken even further in the work of his most important pupil, Franz Anton Maulbertsch.

Provenance: Bassenge auction, Berlin, 27.11.1998, lot 5834; Marco Riccomini collection, Milan; private collection, Rome. This impressive painting exemplifies Troger’s outstanding, forward-looking artistic stance. During a lengthy stay in Italy before 17