Page 55 - Gallery 19C Nazarenes Catalogues

2 3 PROVENANCE
Joseph Führich Thomas E. Waggaman,
CZECH, 1800–1876 Washington D.C. (and sold:
American Art Association,
THE TRIUMPH OF CHRIST New York, 25 January–
oil on panel 3 February 1905, lot 90)
22 ⁷/₈ by 30 ⁷/₈ in. (58 by 78.5 cm) Sale, Sotheby’s, London,
9 April 2002, lot 39
Private Collection, California
(acquired at the above sale)

After his initial training at the Academy in Prague, Josef Führich (1800– Depicted in attentive adoration, she also models the attitude Führich The project’s overwhelming success attracted further commissions, Cat. 3a Joseph Führich, The Triumph of Christ, 1839.
1876) was eager to complete his studies in Italy and in the late autumn of wants us to adopt as well. The Savior’s iconic appearance and supernatural and a year later, in 1840, the artist executed his first version of the cycle’s Book with eleven etchings in black on white wove paper,
1826, sponsored by the mastermind of the Restoration, Prince Klemens calm call for devotion, while forming a stark contrast to the commotion core motif—the triumphant Christ enthroned on a chariot—in oil. 35.8 × 53.6 × 1 cm, Gallerie Bassenge, Berlin.
Wenzel von Metternich (1773–1859), he headed South. On the way, he unfolding around him. Three colossal animals, harnessed in front of the The decision to choose a gold background reflected the era’s new interest
stopped in Vienna and—drawn to the city’s artistic treasures and the elaborate carriage, pull with all their might, the strain of their task written in Byzantine art, and did so with a most stunning effect. It lends an Cat. 3b Titian, Triumph of Christ, c. 1513, woodcut, 38.2 × 53
household of August (1767–1845) and Friedrich Schlegel (1772–1829), clearly on their faces, while the garments of the angel assisting them otherworldly glow to the picture, while highlighting the subtle color palette cm (plate), The New York Public Library, New York.
both foremost literary figures of German Romanticism—remained in flutter wildly. Behind them, four sumptuously dressed men support the of red, white and rose, and the focus on the fabrics’ materiality. The work
the Austrian capital for several months. In January 1827, he continued effort by pushing the heavy vessel forward, they, too, challenged to the was acquired by Athanasius Count Raczyński, a Polish aristocrat in the
his journey to Rome, where he immediately joined the German artists edge of their strength. The discrepancy between the chariot’s rather light diplomatic service of the Prussian king, whose collection of contemporary ¹ Atkinson 1882.
gathered around Joseph Anton Koch (1768–1839). Yet it was the build and the energy needed to move it forward points to the image’s art, then housed in Berlin, was among the most important of its time.
encounter with Johann Friedrich Overbeck (1789–1869) that proved allegorical meaning, the dedication it takes to pursue a righteous path, Here, the painting elicited immediate attention. It certainly made an ² Gietmann 1913; for artist’s “theologian” epithet see “Führich, Joseph.”
most momentous, and soon, the young artist “literally worshipped the the path of imitatio Christi. Part of that path is the guidance provided by impression on George Eliot (1819–1880), who had met Führich in Rome In The Oxford Dictionary of Art, edited by Ian Chilvers. Oxford University
Press, 2004, https://www-oxfordreference-com.proxy.library.upenn.edu/
ground on which Overbeck stood.” ¹ When the opportunity arose to the teachings of the Church, here represented by the four Evangelists in and later saw the painting on her honeymoon in 1854. Twenty years view/10.1093/acref/9780198604761.001.0001/acref-9780198604761-e-1345.
assist with the frescoes of the Casino Massimo, he did not hesitate and the shape of their symbolic animals—Mark, the lion; Luke, the bull; John, later, she eternalized the picture in her novel Middlemarch (1871/72),
stepped into the Lukasbund legacy. Once returned home in 1829, Führich the eagle; and Matthew, the angel—and their followers, the four Church where it returns as The Saints drawing the Car of the Church. The motif’s ³ Titian (1488-1576), Triumph of Christ, woodcut in five blocks, 39 x 269.2cm,
published 1517 by Gregorio de' Gregoriis; see Eva Dawn Allan. “The
would become one of the most important Nazarenes of his generation. Fathers, with St. Jerome, easily recognizable in his scarlet cardinal attire, popularity encouraged Führich to paint a replica, the one here at Triumph Theme and Variations in Long Renaissance Prints.” Ph.D., Yale
and Pope Gregory wearing his three-tiered mitre as the most prominent. hand, also on panel but slightly larger than the Raczyński version.
Although Führich enjoyed notable success in the arena of religious University, 2014. For a view of Titian’s Triumph in its entirety see The New
painting and left an indelible mark on the era’s pursuit of monumental Rather rare in 19 -century art, the motif of the triumphal procession York Public Library Digital Collections, https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/
th
mural decoration, he achieved his greatest influence in the graphic had enjoyed great popularity in the Renaissance, and Führich was items/8c746349-49f7-6884-e040-e00a18061544 (here dated 1513).
medium, and soon acquired the reputation of a “theologian with the directly influenced by Titian’s panoramic woodcut Triumph of the Faith ⁴ Cited in Richard Kralik. Allgemeine Geschichte der neuesten Zeit: Von 1815 bis
pencil.” ² Inspired by Albrecht Dürer and his idol Overbeck, he was (Cat. 3b). ³ However, the Nazarene did not emulate the continuous, zur Gegenwart. Graz: Styria, 1915, 721.
particularly interested in substantial print cycles, and already in Rome uninterrupted flow of Titian’s multipartite print, which altogether
began working on one of his earliest series, The Triumph of Christ, an runs a stunning 107 inches in length. Instead, he spread his procession
ambitious sequence of eleven images. Although Führich’s own notes across eleven separate plates, subsequently united in a bound book.
suggest that he had finished the preparatory drawings in 1831 and thus With an added explanatory note for each print, which reveals the work’s
shortly after his return from Italy, he delayed etching until 1839. nature as an Erbauungsbuch, as an edifying publication aimed at mass
appeal and missionary outreach. The work served its purpose well, and
A dramatic highlight of the series was Christ depicted as Salvator Mundi
enthroned on a chariot (Cat. 3a). He is adored by his mother, the Holy even Führich’s main patron, Prince Metternich was “so penetrated
Virgin, who, seated across from her divine Son, assumes her role as by the depth of thought and aspiration of this young artist,” his wife
intercessor on behalf of those in need and those who have sinned. reported, “that his eyes filled with tears as he tried to explain each
figure. God keep and protect this mind full of goodness and piety!” ⁴

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