Details — Click to read
The Second Tournament with the Tapestry of Samson and the Lion, 1509
Woodcut
292 x 417 mm.; 11 1/2 x 16 1/2 inches
Watermark:
Bull’s Head with Serpent and Cross (Briquet 1575, dated 1472 by Briquet)
Provenance:
Martin Folkes (Lugt 1034)
Reverend G. L. Blake (Lugt 1172)
Exhibited:
Old Master Prints: 1475 – 1850, R. S. Johnson Fine Art, 2013, No. 50 and reproduced on page 93 of the catalogue.
References:
Bartsch 126
Hollstein 117
Notes:
A fine impression of this rare work, one of the most innovative woodcuts at the beginning of the sixteenth century. With thread margins or trimmed on borderline. The watermark corresponds to a very early impression.
This is one of the four major woodcuts produced by Cranach to commemorate a tournament organized by Frederick the Wise (1463 – 1525), The Elector of Saxony, on November 15, 1508 in Wittenburg.
Concerning the provenance of this work: Martin Folkes (1690 – 1754) was an archaeologist who was born in London. His portrait had been painted by J. Richardson in 1718 and by Hogarth in 1741. Folkes’ art collection was extensive and consisted of books, paintings, coins and prints. The Reverend George Leigh Blake, the second known provenance, was an important English collector of the second half of the nineteenth century. His collection was dispersed in London between 1905 and 1914.
