(Nuremberg 1575/80–1654)
The Adoration of the Shepherds,
oil on panel, 89 x 63 cm, framed

We are grateful to Rainer Stüwe for having identified the artist of this painting on the basis of a photograph (written communication).

Well preserved and striking in its vibrant colouring, this panel is a rare work by Georg Gärtner the Younger, a German painter and engraver active in Nuremberg in the first half of the seventeenth century. When Hans Hoffmann died in 1591/92, Georg Gärtner the Younger became one of the foremost exponents of the so-called Dürer Renaissance, a phenomenon of increased interest in Albrecht Dürer’s works that spread throughout Europe in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, with a particularly strong foothold in Dürer’s hometown of Nuremberg and at the Imperial court of Prague. Gärtner trained in his father’s workshop, which he took over in 1612. Under his lead, it gradually expanded and became one of the leading ones in Nuremberg. The artist always employed the maximum number of collaborators permitted by the guild and sometimes even more, which suggests a brisk production. Gärtner was dean of the local painters’ guild from 1620 to 1624, and again from 1638 to 1642. Praised to be a ‘felicissimus Düreri imitator’, he and his workshop produced variations after Dürer’s works and also after works by other celebrated artists, emulating their style but developing a highly individual artistic language. The present painting is a very characteristic example for Gärtner’s output, as well as an important addition to the master’s oeuvre.

This Adoration of the Shepherds is based on a copper engraving by Hendrick Goltzius that was published by Jacob Matham in 1599. Since in Goltzius’ engraving large parts of the composition have been left unfinished, Gärtner had to ingeniously invent and adapt to fill in these blank areas and to create a homogenous whole. Gärtner impressively succeeded in doing so with a particularly accomplished solution: the candle held by Joseph not only sheds its light evenly on all figures but also makes the ruined barn in the background stand out. Stüwe writes: ‘There are recognisable differences between print and the present painting, even in the directly copied parts reflecting the painter’s personal style. For example, the faces are alltogether more vertically aligned by some degrees and thus give a less outgoing and more theatrical impression. At the same time, when compared to their counterparts in Goltzius’ engraving, which heavily rely on Albrecht Dürer’s head types and facial expressions, the figures in the present painting appear to have been rendered in a more “appealing” and softer fashion. Moreover, the arch in the background of the oil painting, which is only adumbrated in Goltzius’ engraving, recalls motifs from Dürer’s Paumgartner Altarpiece. The painter must thus have been a connoisseur of Albert Dürer’s works. The Madonna’s ball-shaped eyes are particularly conspicuous. They recur frequently in works by Georg Gärtner the Younger, as do the blushed cheeks and softly rubbed flesh tones. The artist had to complete the outlines of the parts only indicated in Goltzius’ engraving in his own formal idiom. There are noticeable differences to Goltzius’ characteristic draperies. In the present painting, the passages in question are softened variants of the partly extremely angular folds typical of South German painting around 1500. Attention should also be directed to the palette of the painting, with earthy colours dominating in the background. Characteristic colours are the red areas, highlights changing from light blue to nearly white, and the bright violet tone. A comparable handling of the colours can be observed in the art of Jobst Harrich and Daniel Fröschl, albeit combined with more austere facial types. A unique feature within the circle of these painters are Georg Gärtner the Younger’s prominent spherical eyes.' Stüwe considers the present painting to be a work by Gärtner dating from the early seventeenth century.