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Satyrs and Nymphs; verso: partial counterproof of Heintz's "Studies for the Flight into Egypt" in The Courtauld Gallery, London

ca. 1599
Not on view
This drawing is a rare and outstanding example of Joseph Heintz the Elder's mature and most elaborate drawing style. Related to one of Heintz's most important paintings, made in 1599, probably for Emperor Rudolf II (Alte Pinakothek, Munich), the sheet is typical of the work of artists active at Rudolf's Prague court, who favored complex compositions with many figures in distorted positions and mythological subjects, often of a slightly lascivious nature. Combining fluent yet expressive pen lines, carefully applied heightening with white body color, red chalk, and washes, Heintz masterfully succeeded in adapting his composition to an oval form. Although there seems to be no direct literary source for the subject of this drawing and the corresponding painting, it has been connected to the story of Pan and Syrinx in Ovid's Metamorphoses.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Satyrs and Nymphs; verso: partial counterproof of Heintz's "Studies for the Flight into Egypt" in The Courtauld Gallery, London
  • Artist: Joseph Heintz the Elder (Swiss, Basel 1564–1609 Prague)
  • Date: ca. 1599
  • Medium: Brush and black ink, red chalk, gray and sanguine washes, heightened with white gouache, over black chalk and graphite underdrawing, incised, on off-white paper prepared with yellow wash, laid down to another sheet of laid paper; verso of secondary support: partial offset of a drawing in black and red chalk
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 9 1/4 x 12 5/8 in. (23.5 x 32 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, 2006 Benefit Fund, 2007
  • Object Number: 2007.174
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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The Sense of Hearing, Joseph Heintz the Elder Swiss, Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash. Touches of gray wash. Framing lines in pen and brown.
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Circle of Joseph Heintz the Elder
Former Attribution Formerly attributed to Hans von Aachen
16th century
Swiss Saber (<i>Schweizersäbel</i>), Steel, wood, leather, Swiss
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Adoration of the Shepherds(?), Anonymous, Italian, 16th century Italian, Brush and brown wash, highlighted with brush and white gouache, over traces of charcoal underdrawings, on light brown laid paper
Adoration of the Shepherds(?)
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16th century
Figures Adoring a Statue of the "Magna Mater", Joseph Heintz the Elder Swiss, Pen and brown ink, brush and gray-brown wash, heightened with white
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Joseph Heintz the Elder
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1585
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