Austrian School

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Austrian School

17th century

Diana and Her Nymphs and Cupid

Pen and brown-black ink and wash, watercolor, with opaque lead white watercolor (partially oxidized), over graphite, on laid paper.

4 1/2 x 2 15/16 inches (115 x 75 mm)

Bequest of Mrs. Ernest Ash.

1981.32

Notes:

This depiction of Diana accompanied by nymphs is inscribed with the name Simon Merkenbenk and the date 1632. Thomas da Costa Kauffman suggested the sheet comes from a Stammbuch, or family album, since this is the only sheet associated with the artist's name. Such albums of drawings were increasingly common in the seventeenth century in the Netherlands, Germany, and central Europe, and some of them are sources for unique drawings by otherwise unknown artists.

Inscription:

Watermark: none.
Signed at lower left, in pen and brown ink, "Simon Merkenbenk(?) / Cobach(?) 1632 (or 52)"; inscribed on verso, in graphite, "No 12".

Provenance:

Dr. Curt Glaser (1879-1943), Berlin; possibly his sale, Berlin, Internationales Kunst und Auktionshaus GmbH, 9 May 1933, or Max Perls Gallery, 18-19 May 1933 (not identifiable in catalogue), or not offered for sale and retained by Glaser, who emigrated to the U.S. in 1941; by descent in 1943 to Glaser's widow, Maria Johanna Dorothea Clara Milch Glaser (1901-1981), married in 1956 to Ernst Eduard Ash (1890-1980), New York; her bequest to the museum, 1981.

Associated names:

Merkenbenk, Simon, Formerly attributed to.
Glaser, Curt, 1879-1943, former owner.
Ash, Ernest, Mrs., former owner.

Bibliography:

Ryskamp, Charles, ed. Twentieth Report to the Fellows of the Pierpont Morgan Library, 1981-1983. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1984, p. 233.

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