Study Models of Parts of the Body

• Study Models of Parts of the Body
• Sculptor's Mdoel of a Right Hand, after the statue of Lorenzo de’ Medici (Medici Chapel, San Lorenzo, Florence)

BK-2013-9-2

This group of small models of parts of the body are carefully copied after famous sculptures, in particular by Michelangelo, in Florence and Rome. They came from the workshop of the Nijmegen sculptor Johan Gregor van der Schardt, who had a successful career in Italy, Nuremberg, and Copenhagen. They are extremely rare examples of the, in part autograph, study material of a 16th-century sculptor.

Henry Thode, 'Michelangelos Tonmodelle aus der Hähnelschen Sammlung', Monatshefte für Kunstwissenschaft 6 (1913), p. 309-317.

c. 1560 - c. 1570

terracotta

12.3 cm x 5.5 cm

Purchased with the support of the Frits en Phine Verhaaff Fonds/Rijksmuseum Fonds and Mr William Middendorf II, Little Compton

Public domain

Collection of the artist, c. 1560-70; acquired with the estate of the artist by Paul Praun (1548-1616), Nuremberg for his _Praunsche Kabinett_, c. 1581;{Nuremberg, Stadtarchiv, Familienarchiv von Praun, E 28 II, no. 224, inventory _Praunsche Kabinett_ 1616, fol. 38, no. 404: _Item in einem flachen behalterlein von der obern stuben hundert stuckh von relebo als kopf, arm, hendt, fuess und anders mehr, so zu solchem studio gehörig; 85 stuckh von der erden, 15 stuckh von wachss. Sind theils zerbrochen_ (Idem in a flat small container from the upper room, one hundred pieces of relief such as heads, arms, hands, feet and others, as such belonging to a studio; 85 pieces of terracotta, 15 pieces of wax. Are partly broken); see K. Achilles-Syndram, _Die Kunstsammlung des Paulus Praun: Die Inventare von 1616 und 1719_, Nuremberg 1994, p. 150. Nuremberg, Stadtarchiv, Familienarchiv von Praun, E 28 II, no. 1477, inventory _Praunsche Kabinett_ 1719, pp. 44, 45, nos. 99-162; see Achilles-Syndram 1994, no. 599; C.T. von Murr, _Description du Cabinet de Monsieur Paul de Praun à Nuremberg_, Nuremberg 1797, nos. 100-49. P.J. Lebrooy, _Michelangelo Models Formerly in the Paul von Praun Collection_, Vancouver 1972, p. 25 (referring to Von Murr, who states that Praun had purchased the remainder of Vasari´s drawing collection directly from one of his heirs in Bologna at the end of the 16th century). According to J. Meier-Gräfe, _Michelangelo: Die Terrakotten aus der Sammlung Hähnel_, Berlin 1924, p. 5 (based on Von Murr), Praun acquired the models in 1598 in Bologna, probably from one of Vasari´s heirs. This is nevertheless unlikely. Far more plausible is that Praun acquired the models in Nuremberg himself, as possibly confirmed by a drawing of c. 1580 after the model of Moses´s hand by the artist Hans Hoffman, whose presence in Nuremberg is documented in the years 1576-84. This would imply the model itself was also in Nuremberg at this point in time. My thanks to Titia de Haseth Möller for this observation, see T. de Haseth Möller, _Anatomische deelmodellen uit de ateliernalatenschap van Johan Gregor van der Schardt: Oefenmateriaal, zetstukken, verzamelaarsobjecten_, 2015 (unpublished thesis, University of Amsterdam), p. 8. Furthermore, the models are almost certainly mentioned in Paul Praun´s written testament of 1592, see U. Berger, `Eine Plastiksammlung mit dem Bildhauernachlass von Johann Gregor van der Schardt´, in K. Achilles-Syndram, _Die Kunstsammlung des Paulus Praun: Die Inventare von 1616 und 1719_, Nuremberg 1994, pp. 43-60, esp. p. 50.} acquired (with the _Praunsche Kabinett_) by the dealers G. Buttner and J. F. Frauenholz (1758-1822) and the collector Hans Albrecht von Derschau (1754-1824), Nuremberg, 1801;{J. Meier-Gräfe, _Michelangelo: Die Terrakotten aus der Sammlung Hähnel_, Berlin 1924.} acquired (with the other models) by Anton Paul Heinlein, Nuremberg, 1803;{K. Pilz, `Nürnberg und die Niederlande´, _Mitteilungen des Vereins für Geschichte der Stadt Nürnberg_ 43 (1952), pp. 1-153, esp. p. 89.} from his sale, Nuremberg (Johann Andreas Boerner), 9 April 1832, no. 599, acquired (with the other models) by _Oberstleutnant_ Karl Emil von Gemming (1794-1880), Nuremberg;{P.J. Lebrooy, _Michelangelo Models Formerly in the Paul von Praun Collection_, Vancouver 1972, p. 33 (based on Meier-Gräfe?) posited that Von Gemming acquired the entire collection of terracotta models of the _Praunsche Kabinett_ directly from Buttner and Frauenholz in 1803. According to K. Achilles-Syndram, _Die Kunstsammlung des Paulus Praun: Die Inventare von 1616 und 1719_, Nuremberg 1994, nos. 182-84, the terracottas were initially in Heinlein´s possession. Von Gemming was a dealer (_Antiquar_), numismatist, fossil collector and more. The fossil of a prehistoric bird (Rhamphorhynchus gemmingi) originating from Von Gemming´s collection is today preserved in the Teylers Museum, Haarlem.} from whom acquired (with the other models) by the sculptor Ernst Julius Haehnel (1811-1891), Dresden, 1842;{P.J. Lebrooy, _Michelangelo Models Formerly in the Paul von Praun Collection_, Vancouver 1972, p. 33; K. Achilles-Syndram, _Die Kunstsammlung des Paulus Praun: Die Inventare von 1616 und 1719_, Nuremberg 1994, p. 264 (sub no. 537). In total, Haehnel purchased 33 terracottas - all of which originated from the _Praunsche Kabinett_ - at the sale of the Karl Emil von Gemming collection.} ? his widow Elise Walter-Haehnel, 1891; their daughter(s) Anna Haehnel (? and Elisabeth Walter-Haehnel), Dresden, by 1906;{H. Thode, _Michelangelo: Kritische Untersuchungen über seine Werke_, vol. 3, _Verzeichnis der Zeichnungen, Kartons und Modelle_, Berlin 1913, p. 267; P.J. Lebrooy, _Michelangelo Models Formerly in the Paul von Praun Collection_, Vancouver 1972, pp. 34-35. Gottschewski mentions only `Fräulein Anna Hähnel´ as the owner. No longer ascertainable is whether the models were already held in their mother´s possession prior to this time, see A. Gottschewski, `Ein original-Tonmodell Michelangelos´, _Münchner Jahrbuch der bildenden Kunst_ 1 (1906), pp. 43-64, esp, p. 48.} acquired (with the other models) by the South West Africa Trust Company (a personal trust belonging to August Stauch (1878-1947), the German diamond mine builder active in Namibia), 1922;{See the unpublished revision of Paul LeBrooy´s book from 1972, under the new title _Michelangelo and Cellini Models Formerly in the Paul von Praun Collection_, vol. 1, p. 30 (RMA, Research Services, Archive, inv. no. 20, box 20.1.2), see also O. Levinson, _Diamonds in the Desert_, Cape Town 1983, pp. 126-27. Stauch was the owner of Safari Verlag, publisher of the book J. Meier-Gräfe, _Michelangelo: Die Terrakotten aus der Sammlung Hähnel_, released in 1924. Stauch´s involvement in the planning of this sumptuous publication may very well have brought him into contact with Hähnel´s daughters and sparked his interest in the `Michelangelo models´.} acquired (with the other models) by Dr Adolf Bernhard Heyer, Berlin and London, c. 1931;{Stauch lost most of his wealth in the aftermath of the 1929 Wall Street crash and the succeeding years of the Great Depression. By 1931, he was forced to sell his `Michelangelo models´. See also the unpublished revision of Paul LeBrooy´s book from 1972, under the new title _Michelangelo and Cellini Models Formerly in the Paul von Praun Collection_, vol. 1, pp. 31-32 (RMA, Research Services, Archive, inv. no. 20, box 20.1.2). Contrary to what has previously been claimed, Adolf Bernhard Heyer was not a German-Jewish emigrant in England who had fled the Nazi regime, but a German who worked until 1919 in South West Africa (nowadays Namibia) as a descendant of a German settler family. He was the publisher of the magazine _Deutscher Lebensraum_, an anti-Semitic and racist periodical. In 1937 Heyer defended a dissertation on the former German colony entitled _Deutscher Lebensraum: Die Wirtschaftliche und finanzielle Lage Südwest-Afrikas_ (Marburg, Phillips Universität, 1937). In it he advocated the return of the African country to German possession. In Namibia he will also have come into contact with August Stauch from whom he will have acquired the models. Courtesy of Brian Weightman, Glasgow Museums Resource Center (written communication to Lotte Jaeger, 6 September 2022).} from his sale, London (Christie´s), 24 February 1938, no. 81 (with sixteen other models), to Percival James Woolf (d. 1957), Montreal; his sons, John Peter (1920-2003) and Paul James LeBrooy (1920-1999), subsumed in the so-called `Vancouver Collection´ (later renamed `Canadian Collection´), Montreal and Vancouver, 1957;{After their parents´ divorce, the twin brothers Paul and Peter adopted the surname of their mother´s second husband, H.T. LeBrooy. A handwritten declaration made by Paul LeBrooy´s wife, Phyllis, states: `… about May 1956 when the models were given to us (with other gifts as well) [by Mr Woolf]´ (RMA, Research Services, Archive, inv. no. 20, box 20.4). This suggests that Woolf was still alive in 1956, and that the models had been given to Paul and his wife on an amicable basis. In the 1980s, a dispute arose between the two brothers, with Peter demanding his claim to half of the models.} transferred (with seven other models) to Paul James LeBrooy, 1994;{The group of seventeen terracotta models from the _Praunsche Kabinett_ were divided between the two brothers. Paul James LeBrooy received eight terracottas (BK-2013-9-1 to -7 and -9; he already owned BK-2013-9-8 since 1975). The remaining nine models (BK-2016-44-1 to -9) went to Paul´s brother, John Peter LeBrooy. In 2005, Peter´s widow sold these works to the Corporate House, which subsequently donated all nine works to the Museum of Vancouver in lieu of inheritance tax (appraised at a value of approximately C$13 million).} from whom acquired (with eight other models) by the Corporate House (a group of 66 private investors), Vancouver, 1996; by which donated (with eight other models) in lieu of inheritance tax to the Museum of Vancouver, Vancouver, 1998;{The appraised value of the nine models was C$17,847,980. For additional information, see D. Baines, `Vancouver Museum´s ``Michelangelo´´ Sculptures Fail to Sell at Auction´, _Vancouver Sun_, 8 February 2013. The models were inventoried at the Museum of Vancouver under the following accession nos.: 1998.40.1 (BK-2013-9-1), 1998.40.6 (BK-2013-9-2), 1998.40.2 (BK-2013-9-3), 1998.40.8 (BK-2013-9-4), 1998.40.5 (BK-2013-9-5), 1998.40.4 (BK-2013-9-6), 1998.40.3 (BK-2013-9-7), 1998.40.7 (BK-2013-9-8) and 1998.40.9 (BK-2013-9-9).} their sale, New York (Sotheby´s), 31 January 2013, no. 354 (with eight other models), unsold at the reserve bid of $140,000; post-auction sale, with BK-2013-9-1 and -3 to -9, $80,000 for all nine models, to the museum, with the support of the Frits en Phine Verhaaff Fonds/Rijksmuseum Fonds and Mr William Middendorf II, Little Compton, May 2013

• Henry Thode, 'Michelangelos Tonmodelle aus der Hähnelschen Sammlung', Monatshefte für Kunstwissenschaft 6 (1913), p. 309-317.
• Frits Scholten, 'Johan Gregor van der Schardt and the Moment of Self-Portraiture in Sculpture', Simiolus. Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art 33 (2007/2008) nr. 4, p. 195-220.
• Henry Thode, 'Michelangelo', in: Michelangelo und das Ende der Renaissance 6, Berlijn 1913.
• Frits Scholten, 'Michelangelo's Mighty Models or the Legacy of Johan Gregor van der Schardt', in Stephan Koja en Claudia Kryza-Gersch (red.): Shadows of Time : Giambologna, Michelangelo and the Medici Chapel, Dresden 2018, p. 93-111.
• Michelangelo Models, Seattle (Cascade Gallery) 1977, cat.nr. 1-4, 6-7, 15, 17-18.
• Inventarissen van het Praunsche Kabinett, 1616 and 1719.

To refer to this object, please use the following persistent URL:

https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200554270