Page 91 - Gallery 19C Nazarenes Catalogues

2 12 PROVENANCE EXHIBITED
Friedrich Wilhelm Schadow Hans Pullem, Düsseldorf Düsseldorf, Ausstellung
GER M AN, 1788–1862 (1877–1951) für christliche Kunst,
Private Collection, Germany
May 15-October 3, 1909,
LAMENTATION OF CHRIST (ALSO MATER DOLOROSA) no. 762
around 1848
oil on canvas
13 ³/₈ by 18 ¹/₂ in. (34 by 47 cm.)

From the onset, the place of Wilhelm Schadow in the Romantic dominion commission. The second lamentation, in contrast, originated with neither In the second Lamentation, Schadow also experimented with a new for a secure attribution can be found in a pencil drawing, now housed
of Nazarene art was shaped by a quintessentially “Berlin realism,” by a patron nor public destination in mind. It followed Schadow’s own advice composition. Arranging John and the three Marys in a trapezoidal in the Landesmuseum Hannover, which prepared the Pietà-motif at
penchant for close nature observation and technical perfection imbibed to use a biblical subject to visualize the most private feelings (see Cat. 5). grouping around the central Pietà, he created the illusion of a semi- the composition’s center (see Cat. 12d). In a future revised edition of
already in his father’s studio. Fascinated by the coloristic splendor As such, his Mater Dolorosa was an emphatically personal response. circular arrangement, which is mirrored and reinforced by the picture’s my catalogue raisonné (Grewe 2017), the oil sketch of the Lamentation
of French Neoclassicism, he adopted the French practice to prepare round arch. At the same time, he incorporated only a chalice and the will thus be included as an authentic work by Schadow’s own hand.
any history painting (and sometimes even large-scale portraits) with A letter to Julius Hübner confirms this reading. Written in January 1860, crown of thorns as visual prompts for meditation. Abandoning most
a color sketch for the entire composition in a small format, a practice it is the first mention of the lamentation. “Before my illness, I painted a of the symbolism that had drawn so much criticism in 1836, he worked Cat. 12a Wilhelm Schadow, Lamentation, 1853, oil on
quite unusual in Germany. In the long run, Schadow’s persistent Mater Dolorosa as my swan song and gave it to the Parish church of instead toward greater emotional appeal. Except for Mary’s perplexing canvas, 161 × 214 cm, St. Andreas, Düsseldorf
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emphasis on color and integration of French working methods into his St. Andreas,” Schadow writes, “whose priest is my confessor.” The motionlessness—an outer expression of her insight into the redemptive
practice as both painter and professor would cause a irreparable rift clergyman was Franz Grünmeyer (1802–1871), who had become pastor nature of her son’s Passion, the figures openly express their grief. Cat. 12b August Hoffmann, after Wilhelm Schadow,
between Schadow and his former comrades, the Lukasbrüder. Schadow of Düsseldorf’s St. Andreas in 1841 and finally buried Schadow there in Mary Magdalene, here on the left, embraces Jesus’ feet with despair, Pietà (or Lamentation), 1838, copper engraving,
remained nonetheless indebted to the oil sketch to the evolution of a 1862. Style and technique differ considerably from earlier works, and her luxuriant hair spilling untamed over her shoulders, while her 45.5 × 29.8 cm (plate), Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf
project, and his last major painting, a Lamentation, was no exception. the dark coloration with its gray-black underpainting and likely use of counterpart on the right gently kisses Jesus’ hand. Schadow attached great
tar mark the Lamentation as a “late work.” The latter also demonstrates importance to the expressivity of this tender, caressing gesture, which Cat. 12c Wilhelm Schadow, Study of Two Arms,
Schadow had treated the subject only once before, in 1836, when he painted Schadow’s willingness to learn from his former students, in this case, he firmed up in a pencil sketch (see Cat. 12c). In the end, the hieratic circa 1848-1850, Pencil, heightened with white chalk,
a Pietà for the Parish Church of the picturesque town of Dülmen, located from Carl Ferdinand Sohn, who had first introduced this kind of structure of the Dülmen altarpiece yielded to a much more emotional 10,7 × 8,6 cm, Düsseldorf, Künstlerverein Malkasten
a good 60 miles Northeast of Düsseldorf (Cat. 12a). It was the second underpainting—popular in the Neapolitan Baroque—in Düsseldorf (see approach that replaces ceremonial effect with spiritualized empathy. Cat. 12d Wilhelm Schadow, Pietà, c. 1850, Black chalk,
commission he had received from the local art union, the Kunstverein Cat. 13b). On the basis of these technical observations, I have revised the sepia, heightened with white ink, on light brown clay paper,
für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, and Schadow’s design was accordingly previously suggested date, 1835, in favor of 1853 and thus a date shortly The newly discovered oil sketch provides now important insights into the 28,7 × 26,8 cm, Niedersächsisches Landesmuseum, Hannover
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ambitious. The result, however, was not as well received as he had hoped. before deteriorating cataracts—the illness I believe the painter refers to evolution of Schadow’s last religious work. While the sketch prefigures
The picture’s layered symbolism struck viewers as excessive and, worse, in his letter to Hübner—left Schadow temporarily blind. The absence of the composition for the most part, there are some noteworthy differences.
untimely, and critics expressed irritation over the angels’ richly decorated Schadow’s characteristic enamel-like surface in the finished altarpiece The most obvious is the color scheme, which is noticeable brighter and ¹ See, for example, Grewe 2017, no. 53.1, 116; or no. 105.1, 202.
chasubles, which, although common in medieval or Renaissance art, and overall uneven execution also point toward his failing eyesight. more saturated that in the final painting This suggests dating the oil sketch ² Grewe 2017, no. 47, 103-107 and 309-310. The biblical citation in the
seemed out of place on a modern altar. Maybe Schadow ultimately felt closer in time to the 1848 Fons Vitae. The other notable difference is the picture’s bottom field is John 3:16.
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the same way. At least he approached the topic very differently, when he position of Christ’s head, which falls further back, the hair moreover still ³ Ibid.
returned to it thirty years later (Cat. 12b). Matters of patronage might also blond and the halo fashioned more clearly after the Italian old masters. ⁴ Schadow to Hübner, January 25, 1860; cited after Grewe 2017, 150
have played into the new attitude. The 1836 altar had been a major official If these deviations already point to Schadow’s authorship, the final proof

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