Lot 1051 | Virgin Mary with the Child

ZICK, JANUARIUS
1730 Munich - 1797 Ehrenbreitstein

Title: Virgin Mary with the Child.
Technique: Oil on canvas.
Mounting: Relined.
Measurement: 80,5 x 63cm.
Frame/Pedestal: Framed.

Certificate:
J. Straßer, Munich, 23.03.2021.

Provenance:
Private ownership, Germany.

The present painting shows the Mother of God Mary as a half figure with the Child Jesus sitting on her lap. The two figures, which in close-up view almost fill the entire picture format, are situated in front of a plain, low-detail background and are connected by a white cloth that both the Child Jesus and the Mother of God hold on to. The creator of the work is considered to be the painter and architect Januarius Zick, in whose painting oeuvre comparable representations of the theme and similar postures and depictions of Mary's head can be found (cf. cat. rais. G195-G203). The painting technique, the modelling of the body and the drapery, which is particularly expressed in the cloth, also speak for Zick's hand. The work can be dated to around 1760, as indicated by the artistic technique, which is reflected in particular in the drapery and the incarnate parts of the subjects - details that immediately catch the eye of the observer and demonstrate the painterly quality of the work. The period is considered the early phase of the artist's "mature work", which can be located between the end of his training journeys and before his appointment as painter to the court of the Electorate of Trier.

We are grateful to Josef Straßer, Munich, for confirming the attribution of the present painting on the basis of a high-resolution digital photograph.