Lot 37: JOSEPH HEINTZ THE ELDER | Diana and Callisto

oil on copper

47 by 33 cm.; 18 1/2  by 13 in.

oil on copper

The following condition report is provided by Sarah Walden who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's: Joseph Heintz the Elder. Diana and Callisto. This painting is on a copper panel, which has been well preserved, flat and undented, except for little old bends at the outer top corners and in the lower left corner. The edges have lost some flakes. The overall condition is extremely good, reflecting the stable early background of the painting, without a trace of wear in the blue of the sky or in the fine detail of the figures or the delicate drapery at upper right, suggesting minimal intervention in the past. There is a minor old scratch on the stomach of Callisto, with a few small marks on her breasts, and on the leg of the nymph behind Callisto. Occasional small flakes have been lost, including two slightly larger losses in the rocks at upper centre. There is possibly some older retouching in the deep madder drapery below Callisto's knees, and perhaps on the shore between the heads of the nymphs by the distant water. However the unworn quality of the brushwork elsewhere throughout is exceptional. This report was not done under laboratory conditions.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

J. Zimmer, Joseph Heintz d. Ä als Maler (1564–1609), Diss. Heidelberg (published Bamberg) 1967, pp. 240ff.;
J. Zimmer, Joseph Heintz der Ältere als Maler, Weißenhorn 1971, p. 98, no. A 17, reproduced fig. 46;
T. DaCosta Kaufmann, L'École de Prague, Paris 1985, p. 234, no. 7-29, reproduced (as a lost work);
T. DaCosta Kaufmann, The School of Prague, Chicago and London 1988 (English ed. of the above), pp. 191–92, no. 7-29, reproduced p. 192 (as a lost work);
J. Zimmer, Joseph Heintz der Ältere. Zeichnungen und Dokumente, Munich and Berlin 1988, pp. 137–38, under no. A 59;
J. Zimmer, in Prag um 1600. Kunst und Kultur am Hofe Rudolfs II, exhibition catalogue, Freren 1988, pp. 349–50, under no. 207.

Probably painted for the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II in Prague;
Probably Gottfried Winkler, Leipzig, 1768, no. 142;
With Curt Benedict, Paris, 1939;
With Galerie Heinemann, Wiesbaden, from whom acquired by the father of the present owners in the late 1960s or early 1970s.