Lot 163: Studio of Hermann tom Ring (Mnster 1521-1597)

Studio of Hermann tom Ring (Mnster 1521-1597)
Portrait of a gentleman, possibly of the Ratold family, half-length, in a black doublet, hat and a fur-lined mantle, a glove in his left hand, a mountainous, river landscape beyond
inscribed with the sitter's coat-of-arms and the initials 'S[G?]R' (lower centre, on the signet ring)
oil on panel
20¾ x 16 7/8 in. (53.7 x 42.9 cm.)
in a Neoclassical composition frame

Bradford, City Art Gallery, Cartwright Memorial Hall, Exhibition of Historical Portraits from Tong Hall, 17 July-31 October 1943, no. 47, as a portrait of Philip Melanchthon.

Tempests of Tong Hall, Tong Hall, West Yorkshire, and by inheritance to Viscounts Mountgarret, and by descent.

Property from the 16th Viscount Mountgarrett Will Chattels Trust (Lots 161, 162, 163, 176, 244 and 245)

We are grateful to Ludwig Meyer for placing this work in the Westphalian School at Mnster, and for suggesting an attribution to Hermann tom Ring, noting the resemblance of the background to Ring's landscape style, influenced by contemporary Netherlandish forms. Hermann tom Ring was the eldest son of Ludger tom Ring I (1496-1547) and brother of Ludger tom Ring II. Jan van Helmont has suggested that the arms are those of the Ratold family; we are grateful for his assistance in cataloguing this lot.