(Memmingen 1640 – 1704 Augsburg) Allegory of the Seasons, signed at lower left JHeis, 73 x 93 cm, framed

Certificate: Dr. Peter Königfeld, 26 May 2009: “The present Allegory of the Seasons is indisputably a work by Johann Heiss. The composition and the type of figures leave no doubt about his authorship. Heiss repeatedly depicted allegories of the seasons; particularly worth mentioning is his important cycle at Memmingen from 1676, which presents the seasons as crowded compositions in the form of triumphal processions. There are also resemblances to two depictions preserved in Augsburg, an Allegory of Spring and an Allegory of Autumn, which feature a similar vocabulary of form. The present Allegory of the Seasons undoubtedly dates from the artist’s early period and must have been executed between his Ecce Homo in Freising from 1662 and the Ochsenhausen cycle of the Passion from 1670. The high painterly quality, which can also be observed in the carefully rendered details, and the rich palette of delicate hues suggest an autograph work.” Literature: comp. (cat. raisonné) Peter Königfeld, Johann Heiss, Monographie mit Werksverzeichnis, 2001, p. 303, no. B50, repr. on p. 73. Provenance: private property, Germany