DOI article:
Kandt, Kevin E.: Some notes on two allegorical drawings attributed to Andreas Schlüter the Younger from the Jacob Kabrun collection in the National Museum of Gdańsk
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43437#0189
Some Notes on
Two Allegorical
Drawings
Attributed...
Fig. 23. Andreas Schluter (attributed), Design
for a Commemorative Sheet in Honor of the Birth
of a Prussian Prince of the House of Orange (c. 1707-
1712), red chalk and graphite, Kupferstichkabinet,
Berlin, repr. Europaische Barockplastik...
Already long-ago disputed and ultimately de-attributed are several rapid
pen-sketches taken from an artist’s sketchbook showing two mythological
scenes including an Apollo and Daphne and a small Infant or Christ Child (?),
which have been removed from the list of potential comparative examples
already attributed to Schluter before 1939:69 However, more credible and per-
tinent for our discussion here is a chalk and graphite drawing of a Design for
a Commemorative Sheet in Honor of the Birth of a Prussian Prince from the
House of Orange (c. 1707-1712) in the Berlin Kupferstichkabinett.70 (fig. 23)
Despite the difference in media employed and manner of execution, there
are significant and noteworthy aspects
to note and compare. A fundamental
similitude between this work and the
Gdańsk drawings seems to exist espe¬
cially in the basic compositional design
as well as the strong, decisive strokes
which deftly form the contours of the
figures that so convincingly suggest the
three-dimensionality of palpable flesh
and flowing drapery In the Allegory of
Astronomy, the bald-headed, full-faced
baby with his protruding cheeks (almost
resembling a kidney-bean shape!) char¬
acterizes a very common Schliiterian
putto-type and is much like the visage
of the small infant depicted in the com¬
memorative drawing. Again, taking into
consideration that the media used are
dissimilar, the treatment of the limbs,
hands, hair, and drapery shown in the
chalk/graphite drawing still actually
compares rather well to the female figure
in the pen and ink Allegory of Time. The
noticeable variance between the effects
brought about by a pen and ink image
versus one rendered in chalk with shad-
ing does highlight the care one should
69 For the early attribution: Bock, Die Zeichnungen..., p. 325; Boeck, Studien uber
Schluter..., p. 62, 64 (fig. 17); Foerster, Eine Zeichnung von Andreas Schluter..., p. 3; Foerster,
Schluter und Matthaus Merian..., p. 3. This attribution has not withstood the stringent test of
time. See note 68 below.
70 Inv. Nr. HdZ 16 232. Foerster, Eine Zeichnung von Andreas Schluter..., p. 3-4; Bercken-
hagen, Barock in Deutschland..., p. 101-102; Europaische Barockplastik..., p. 230 (fig. 102b);
Barockplastik..., p. 472-473.
187
Two Allegorical
Drawings
Attributed...
Fig. 23. Andreas Schluter (attributed), Design
for a Commemorative Sheet in Honor of the Birth
of a Prussian Prince of the House of Orange (c. 1707-
1712), red chalk and graphite, Kupferstichkabinet,
Berlin, repr. Europaische Barockplastik...
Already long-ago disputed and ultimately de-attributed are several rapid
pen-sketches taken from an artist’s sketchbook showing two mythological
scenes including an Apollo and Daphne and a small Infant or Christ Child (?),
which have been removed from the list of potential comparative examples
already attributed to Schluter before 1939:69 However, more credible and per-
tinent for our discussion here is a chalk and graphite drawing of a Design for
a Commemorative Sheet in Honor of the Birth of a Prussian Prince from the
House of Orange (c. 1707-1712) in the Berlin Kupferstichkabinett.70 (fig. 23)
Despite the difference in media employed and manner of execution, there
are significant and noteworthy aspects
to note and compare. A fundamental
similitude between this work and the
Gdańsk drawings seems to exist espe¬
cially in the basic compositional design
as well as the strong, decisive strokes
which deftly form the contours of the
figures that so convincingly suggest the
three-dimensionality of palpable flesh
and flowing drapery In the Allegory of
Astronomy, the bald-headed, full-faced
baby with his protruding cheeks (almost
resembling a kidney-bean shape!) char¬
acterizes a very common Schliiterian
putto-type and is much like the visage
of the small infant depicted in the com¬
memorative drawing. Again, taking into
consideration that the media used are
dissimilar, the treatment of the limbs,
hands, hair, and drapery shown in the
chalk/graphite drawing still actually
compares rather well to the female figure
in the pen and ink Allegory of Time. The
noticeable variance between the effects
brought about by a pen and ink image
versus one rendered in chalk with shad-
ing does highlight the care one should
69 For the early attribution: Bock, Die Zeichnungen..., p. 325; Boeck, Studien uber
Schluter..., p. 62, 64 (fig. 17); Foerster, Eine Zeichnung von Andreas Schluter..., p. 3; Foerster,
Schluter und Matthaus Merian..., p. 3. This attribution has not withstood the stringent test of
time. See note 68 below.
70 Inv. Nr. HdZ 16 232. Foerster, Eine Zeichnung von Andreas Schluter..., p. 3-4; Bercken-
hagen, Barock in Deutschland..., p. 101-102; Europaische Barockplastik..., p. 230 (fig. 102b);
Barockplastik..., p. 472-473.
187