German medieval altarpiece wings that remained in a single household for 500 years to be auctioned at Sotheby’s

A pair of huge medieval German panels which have belonged to the identical household for greater than 500 years are to be auctioned at Sotheby’s Previous Grasp & nineteenth Century Work night sale in London on 3 July. Painted by Bartholomäus Zeitblom (1455-1518), they’re anticipated to fetch between £400,000 and £600,000.

The donor couple portrayed on what had been initially the wings of an altarpiece for the St. Anna Chapel within the southern German city of Schwendi are Wilhelm von Schwendi, who died in 1522, and Barbara Krafft von Dellmensingen. The consignor is a direct descendant of Krafft von Dellmensingen, who died in 1538.
“It is rather uncommon for artworks to remain within the household of the donors for such a very long time,” says George Gordon, Sotheby’s Co-Chairman, Worldwide Previous Grasp work.

Sotheby’s says that the altarpiece was commissioned in round 1500. Zeitblom is understood to have moved to Ulm by 1482, and remained there till his demise, finishing up commissions for rich households within the area. “There are numerous portraits from this period, however only a few of them are attributable to an artist,” Gordon says. “The overwhelming majority of artists of this period are nameless.”

In 1758, members of the Krafft von Dellmensingen household eliminated the panels from the altarpiece and took them to their residence—a step which will have saved them from Napoleon’s plunder, Gordon says. It additionally accounts for what he describes as their “beautiful situation.” In 1963, the lacking panels within the church had been changed with trendy replicas.

“These panels not solely have an unbroken provenance since their creation however are additionally among the many best-preserved donors panels by the Ulm grasp that also exist at present,” the Sotheby’s catalogue notice states.