Old Masters & 19th Century Art

The present Lot will be on view at Freeman's Upper East Side galleries located at 32 E. 67th St in New York, May 6-11, 10am-5pm weekdays; 11am-5pm Saturday, May 9; closed Sunday, May 10.

The attribution to the painter Johann Heiss was made by art historian Dr. Peter Königfeld, Hanover, Germany.

Provenance:

Private Collection, New Jersey

Lot Essay:

The present painting is a recent discovery to add to the known corpus of works by the German Baroque painter Johann Hess, whose oeuvre includes depictions of scenes from the Old and New Testaments, mythology, and ancient history. Heiss was a major figure in 17th century German painting, and he was one of its most important representatives in art in Augsburg during this period.

Heiss painted the subject of Diana and Her Nymphs on a number of occasions, with two notable versions in museum collections standing out - one in the Suermondt-Ludwig Museum, Aachen, and one in the Municipal Collections, Biberach an der Riss. Other archival documented examples of this subject painted by Heiss are included in the Collections of the Dukes of Wüttemberg-Neuenstadt (formerly Neunstadt (Heilbronn)) and in the Ducal Brunswick Picture Gallery (formerly Salzdahlum Castle).

The present work depicts a wooded rocky gorge, where Diana has settled down with her dogs and nine companions by a body of water. They are in the valley of Gargaphie, which Ovid described as “sacred to the goddess” in his Metamorphoses III. The scene is arranged theatrically, with the powerfully sculptural actors placed on a narrow stage surrounded by densely overgrown pines and a pointed cypress. To the right, a sheer, rocky outcrop further encloses the scenery. Diana and her nymphs are arranged in the foreground like repoussoirs, bathing in the background or dipping their feet in the water. Their bodies are brightly lit from the left, and contrast attractively with the dark-toned brown and gray coloring that defines the picture stage. The composition is enlivened by the many movements and glances of the nymphs who are arranged in a semi-circle. They serve to highlight Diana, who, aloof to mortals, is partially enveloped in shadows as the central figure. The skillful composition, with its theatrical staging and elaborate still lifes of hunting weapons and hunting booty, is a testament to Heiss’s importance within the German Baroque canon.