Object Description
384 Series: EVENTS FROM THE LIFE OF CHRIST
A. ANNUNCIATION
An angel kneeling on a cloud and holding a lily sweeps down from upper left to Mary, who kneels at a prie-dieu and turns around in fright at the angel's appearance. The back of the prie-dieu shows an opened door. Above and behind the angel flies the dove of the Holy Spirit. At the left, a cat lies curled in front of a table on which is a breadbasket. Behind the Virgin, a canopied bed.
Bronze, 92 x 68 mm. Aftercast; there are faint impressions of two seals at the bottom.
The series, comprising sixteen plaquettes, was complete in the Walcher von Molthein Collection (Braun, nos. 177-90, pls. 55-58; Molthein, nos. 420-35, pl. 32). Since a few examples show a view of the city of Augsburg (Rosenberg, Die Goldschmiede Merkzeichen, Aufl. 3, I, no. 132) and the hallmark of Matthias Wallbaum {Ibid., I, no. 148), these must be casts after silver reliefs which were used in the Wallbaum workshop, for example, in the silver altar of the Monastery at Lambach (Osterreichische Kunsttopographie 34, [1969], p. 152 ff.). Braun, since he could not identify the master's mark, attributed the series to a "Master of the Passion." Bange (p. 121, no. 7651) and, later, Bernhart suggest more artists and various dates of origin. The wide variety of styles of the compositions derives perhaps from the use of designs from different periods and workshops.
Other specimens: (bronze) Rome, Palazzo Venezia; Rome, Vatican.
Bibl.: Braun, E. W., "Zur Ausstellung der Plakettensammlung Walcher von Molthein," Kunst und Kunsthandwerk 14 (1911), p. 411, fig. 11 ff.; Braun, no. 177, pl. 55; Weber, no. 412, 1. Auction catalogs: Heinrici, no. 177; Molthein, no. 420.
