AFTER JORG BREU THE ELDER (Augsburg, c. 1475-1537)
Christ on the Cross between the Virgin and St. John, woodcut with hand coloring, printed on parchment (sheet 308 x 182 mm.; image 222 x 139), Germany, Augsburg, 1504

Jörg Breu the Elder, son of a weaver, became a leading artist of the Danube School. After a sojourn in Austria, he returned to Augsburg, becoming a master in 1502, travelled twice to Italy, in c. 1508 and 1514/15. His large and versatile workshop in Augsburg turned out history paintings, frescoes, woodcuts, and stained glass. His son Jörg Breu the Younger continued his workshop until 1547.

The composition comes from a print by Jörg Breu the Elder (Hollstein, no. 38) which was first used in a Constance Missal from 1504, then re-used in an Augsburg Missal of 1505. It is distinct from other contemporary images of the Crucifixion insofar as the figure of Saint John is turned towards the cross, showing the Christ’s favorite apostle in profile. The present print follows all the main features of Breu’s invention and copies them in a slightly simplified form. It was already used in the same year as Breu’s original, interestingly south of the Alps in the Missale Speciale printed by Luca Antonia Giunta in Venice in 1504. The poor impression in the Stadtbibliothek Augsburg published in the Heitz series, however, indicates that the block must have remained in use for a considerable time.

Blank on the verso, the present sheet is a very fine impression, impeccably printed on vellum. The printed inscription beneath the Crucifixion reads “Et famulum tuum episcopi nostrum cum omnibus sibi commissis ab omni adversitate custodi et pacem ecclesie nostris concede temporibus” (tr. And protect your servant, our bishop, together with all entrusted to him, from every adversity, and grant peace to the Church in our times). This is appropriate in a Missal that would have been used by a bishop to say Mass, and the leaf would have faced the opening text of the Mass, the “Te igitur.”

Provenance
(1) Private Collection, USA

LITERATURE
Victor Masséna, Prince d’Essling, Les Missels imprimés à Venise de 1481 à 1600, Paris 1896, pp. 271ff., no. 217; Richard Schmidbauer, Staats-, Kreis- und Stadtbibliothek Augsburg, Strasbourg 1909 (Paul Heitz, Einblattdrucke des fünfzehnten Jahrhunderts, vol. 18), pp. 8f., plate no. 6 (illustrating a very late impression from the worn and damaged block) ; F.W.H. Hollstein, eds. Guido Messling and Hans-Martin Kaulbach, The New Hollstein German Engravings, Etchings, and Woodcuts, 1400-1700: Jörg Breu the Elder and Jörg Breu the Younger, Ouderkerk aan den IJssel, The Netherlands, 2008; pp. 58ff., no. 38.

We thank Senior Consultant Sandra Hindman and Peter Bovenmyer for their assistance in preparing this sale.

This lot is located in Chicago.

Christopher Brink

Associate Vice President, Head of Sale, Senior Specialist, Books & Manuscripts

[email protected]312.334.4217

Darren Winston

SVP, Head of Department, Books and Manuscripts, Philadelphia

[email protected]267.414.1247

Darren Winston, Senior Vice President at Freeman’s, has served as Head of Department for Books & Manuscripts, Philadelphia, since 2018. He has been a trustee of the Rosenbach Museum and Library since 2022, is a member of The Manuscript Society, The Bibliographical Society of America, and Philadelphia’s Philobiblon Club.

Raised in northern New Jersey, Darren moved to New York City in 1988 and began his career there as a bookseller in 1995. He spent the next 18 years selling to private clients and at East Coast book fairs. In 2003 he moved with his young family to Sharon, Connecticut where, in 2009, he opened his own bookshop. Darren Winston, Bookseller offered rare and vintage books, prints, fine art, and more, and hosted over 50 book signings and art shows. He was a trustee and, later, Board President, of the Sharon Historical Society, and for six years a trustee of Indian Mountain School in Lakeville, Connecticut.

Darren has hosted the radio program "Darren Winston's Book Report" for NPR-affiliate WHDD since 2009, appeared in the 2014 book-themed documentary The Paper Trail, and in 2024 he joined Antiques Roadshow as a books and manuscripts appraiser. From 1999 to 2005, Darren was the buyer and consultant to the Fine and Rare Books Department at Asprey, the British luxury goods company, at its New York headquarters. While there he spearheaded various in-store events including readings by Salman Rushdie and Dominick Dunne.

In 1993, Darren was hired as a Creative Consultant to Columbia Records, where he assisted in the repackaging of their 12-record Aerosmith back catalogue. He later sold his extensive collection of Aerosmith memorabilia, which he began amassing at the age of 14, directly to the band.

Darren now lives on the Main Line, outside Philadelphia, with his wife, two children, and dog. The family travels frequently to his wife's native England and Scotland. When not bookselling, he plays guitar in Pumped, an Aerosmith tribute band. Darren also appears on the top-rated PBS television program Antiques Roadshow.

Sandra Hindman

Senior Consultant, Medieval and Renaissance Manuscript Illumination

[email protected]312 280 1212

Sandra Hindman, Senior Consultant, is a leading expert in Medieval and Renaissance manuscript illumination. Professor Emerita of Art History at Northwestern University, Professor Hindman is author, coauthor or editor of more than twelve books, as well as numerous articles on the history and reception of illuminated manuscripts and on medieval rings. She is a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America, the National Antique and Art Dealers Association of America, the Syndicat National de la Librairie Ancienne et Moderne, and the Syndicat National des Antiquaires,The Grolier Club and the Caston Club. In 2023, the French Republic named Sandra Hindman a Chevaliere de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters). She is the owner and CEO of Les Enluminures Paris Chicago and New York founded in 1991.

Western Manuscripts and Miniatures

AFTER JORG BREU THE ELDER (Augsburg, c. 1475-1537)
Christ on the Cross between the Virgin and St. John, woodcut with hand coloring, printed on parchment (sheet 308 x 182 mm.; image 222 x 139), Germany, Augsburg, 1504

Western Manuscripts and Miniatures

AFTER JORG BREU THE ELDER (Augsburg, c. 1475-1537)Christ on the Cross between the Virgin and St. John, woodcut with hand coloring, printed on parchment (sheet 308 x 182 mm.; image 222 x 139), Germany, Augsburg, 1504

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AFTER JORG BREU THE ELDER (Augsburg, c. 1475-1537)
Christ on the Cross between the Virgin and St. John, woodcut with hand coloring, printed on parchment (sheet 308 x 182 mm.; image 222 x 139), Germany, Augsburg, 1504