(Nuremberg 1575/80–1654)
Saint Jerome in his Study,
oil on panel, 68 x 50 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private collection, Germany

We are grateful to Rainer Stüwe for confirming the attribution of the present painting to Georg Gärtner II. A certificate of authenticity, dated 21 March 2022, accompanies this lot.

Rainer Stüwe writes: ‘The painting to be assessed is a highly precise translation of Dürer’s copper engraving (Meder 59/Bartsch 60) of St. Jerome in His Study into a painting. Both in terms of the repetition of the extremely diverse motifs and its approximation to Dürer’s exemplary style, it exhibits an extraordinary closeness. Only minor alterations can be observed with regard to individual motifs, such as the chip-like losses at the bottom of the window in the copper engraving, which in the present painting have been rendered as light reflections of the crown glass. However, there are also a number of distinct deviations in comparison to Dürer’s engraving on which the present work is based, so that it is indeed possible to make an attribution. In their entirety, they create an overall picture and are thus proof of the present painter’s individual hand’.

Amongst the number of deviations listed by Stüwe, one is particularly noteworthy: ‘The light reflections on the skull and Jerome’s forehead have been applied punctually, whereas in the copper engraving they are more widespread. The painting thus gives a more brilliant impression. The same holds true for the saint’s nimbus, which in the painting is not as glistening as in the engraving, but more brightly glowing.’

Stüwe continues: ‘Given its artistic quality and particularly its consistent attempts at minute “improvements” to the prototype in the sense of the Dürer Renaissance, the panel to be assessed is certainly an extraordinary work of superior quality. The present painter sought to enhance the prototype, i.e., Dürer’s engraving, by achieving a smoother and more brilliant painterly effect and by lending more spatial depth to the composition. These tendencies can be found in works by the Nuremberg-based Dürer copyist Georg Gärtner […] All in all, these observations allow us to attribute the present panel of Saint Jerome to the Dürer copyist Georg Gärtner of Nuremberg and date it to around 1610–30’.