SwissArtGallery · Documented identity
The Flemish painter, draughtsman and printmaker Bartholomeus Spranger (Antwerp, 1546 – Prague, 1611) pursues a career that takes him from Antwerp studios to imperial and papal courts. From the age of eleven, he trains with Jan Mandijn, then with Frans Mostaert and Cornelis van Dalem, until 1564. After a stay in Paris in 1565, where he works for six weeks in Marc Duval’s studio, he travels to Italy and spends eight months in Milan, among other places, where he learns tempera painting.
Arriving in Rome in 1566, he enters the service of Cardinal Alexandre Farnèse. In 1570, at the cardinal’s request and under the direction of Federigo Zuccaro, he paints landscape frescoes at the Palazzo Farnese in Caprarola. In the same year, he enters the service of Pope Pius V, for whom he paints a cycle devoted to the Passion and a Last Judgement. After the pope’s death in 1572, he works for several Roman churches. In 1575, Spranger joins the Viennese court of Maximilian II. After the emperor’s death in 1576, he offers his services to Rudolf II, who summons him to Prague. After marrying Christina Müller in 1582 and a brief stay in Vienna, he returns to Prague, where he is appointed court painter in 1584.
For Rudolf II, he develops an art characterised by complex poses, treating mythological and erotic subjects, sometimes accompanied by esoteric allusions and rhetorical effects. Although mythological paintings constitute the best-known part of his work, Spranger also treats religious subjects and genre painting; his mythological compositions are particularly well represented at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. Hercules and Omphale, painted on copper around 1585, is held there. Other cited works include The Resurrection of Christ, around 1576, at the Narodni Galerie in Prague, and The Adoration of the Kings, around 1595, at the National Gallery in London. His drawings achieve international circulation through prints made by more than twenty engravers. During his visit to the Netherlands in 1602, he is welcomed by his compatriots.
This profile brings together identity references for Bartholomeus Spranger and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
Artcurial Beurret Bailly Widmer · Schuler
References include catalogue entries and available results; they do not all represent completed sales. Attributed works and special lots are excluded from the priced results.
Oil on wood
Noli me tangere
Öl auf Holz
Catalogue period : 2021-03-24
Published result : 2456 CHF
Including buyer’s premium
Estimate : CHF 2000–3000
View the lot at the auction house ↗These references are shown separately because of their attribution or lot composition. Each record states the reason.
Oil on wood
Kopie des 19.Jhs
Öl auf Holz
Attribution ou qualification signalée dans le catalogue
Catalogue period : 2022-09-19
Attribution recorded in catalogue
Published result : 400 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 400–600
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Oil on wood
Kopie des 19.Jhs
Öl auf Holz
Attribution ou qualification signalée dans le catalogue
Catalogue period : 2022-06-20
Attribution recorded in catalogue
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
Estimate : CHF 700–900
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Oil on canvas
in der Art Adam und Eva
Öl auf Leinwand
Attribution ou qualification signalée dans le catalogue
Catalogue period : 2021-03-26
Attribution recorded in catalogue
Published result : 110000 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 1500–2500
View the lot at the auction house ↗SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
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