ZURICH.- An impressive work by Arnold Böcklin, “„Der Kampf auf der Brücke“ (“The Battle on the Bridge”), will be offered in the auction of 19th Century Paintings on 29 March at Koller Zurich. Inspired by Rubens’ “Battle of the Amazons”, this dynamic composition depicts a struggle between a Germanic tribe and a Roman army, and is estimated at CHF 250 000/350 000. Two particularly luminous works by German artists stand out among the 19th century works on offer, a view of Venice with the Doge’s palace by Carl Morgenstern (CHF 60 000/80 000) and a merry company before Mount Vesuvius in Naples by Oswald Achenbach (CHF 30 000/40 000). The collection of Dutch film maker Jef Rademakers included many highly representative works of 19th century Dutch Romanticism, over one hundred of which will be offered in the 29 March auction. Two of the numerous highlights are a “Winter Landscape with koek en zopie (‘cookie and hootch‘) by night“ (CHF 30 000/40 000) by Andreas Schelfhout, and a Pronkstilleven still life painted by David Emil Joseph de Noter in 1847 (CHF 20 000/30 000).  

Lot 3226. Carl Morgenstern (1811 Frankfurt 1893), Venice with a view of the Doges Palace and Santa Maria della Salute. 1863. Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower right: Carl Morgenstern 1863 ffrt. 54 x 89 cm. Estimate CHF 60 000 / 80 000 (€ 52 630 / 70 180. Courtesy Koller Zurich.

Among the Old Master Paintings to be auctioned on 29 March is a portrait by Lucas Cranach and his workshop of Cranach’s patron, Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony (CHF 90 000/120 000). Frederick was not only an influential political figure of his time, but a major supporter of the visual arts, employing such luminaries as Cranach and Albrecht Dürer. Dutch Golden Age painter Jan van Noordt executed an amorous scene depicting the encounter between Don Juan and Pretiose in an original manner: the libertine is not depicted as a callous womanizer, but with soft and vulnerable features (CHF 100 000/140 000). Recently discovered in a private collection, the Temptation of St Anthony by Jan Wellens de Cock is a significant addition to the Flemish artist’s oeuvre, the composition of which was until recently only known through an engraving in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. (CHF 50 000/70 000). 

Lot 3007. Lucas Cranach The Elder and his workshop (Kronach 1472 – 1553 Weimar), Portrait of the Elector of Saxony Friedrich the Wise. 1525. Oil on beech panel. Signed with snake and dated upper left above the shoulder: 1528. 38.7 x 25.3 cm. Estimate CHF 90 000 / 120 000 (€ 78 950 / 105 260). Lot sold CHF 264 500. Courtesy Koller Zurich.

Provenance: - Private collection, Binningen bei Basel, 1974.
- Via inheritance to the current owner, Swiss private collection. 

Exhibited: Lukas Cranach. Gemälde, Zeichnungen, Druckgraphik, Kunstmuseum Basel, 15.6.-8.9.1974, No. 189.

Lot 3049. Jan van Noordt (1623 Amsterdam 1681), The meeting of Preziosa and Don Juan – an amorous scene. Oil on canvas. 131.5 x 172.5 cm. Estimate CHF 100 000 / 140 000 (€ 87 720 / 122 810). Courtesy Koller Zurich.

Provenance: - Collection of T. Ockley.
- Auction of C. Fairfax Murray and others, Christie's, London, 20.1.1920, Lot 353 (as Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, Vertumnus and Pomona).
- A. Tooth & Sons, art trade, London.
- Christie's, London, 15.2.1929, Lot 81 (as J. van Noordt, Cavalier and a Young Lady, with sporting figures and gypsies).
- Private collection J. Leger & Son, London, 1930/31.
- Sotheby's, London, 15.12.1976, Lot 17.
- Boetto auction, Genua, 23. – 24.2.1998 (as French school, 17th century, Scène allégorique).
- Adam Williams Fine Art, New York, 1999.
- European private collection.

Literature: - Staring, Adolph: Weinig bekende portettisten. III. Joannes van Noordt, Oud Holland, Vol. 61, 1946, p. 74.
- Bénézit, Emmanuel: Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs de tous les temps et de tous les pays par un groupe d'ècrivains spécialistes français et étrangers, Paris 1956, vol. 6, p. 381.
- Gudlaugsson, Sturla Jonasson: The Comedians in the Work of Jan Steen and his contemporaries, Soest 1975, pp. 29-33, fig. 25.
- Schatborn, Peter: Tekeningen van Jan van Noordt, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum, year 27, No. 3, 1979, p. 119 – 120, fig. 3.
- Gaskell, Ivan: Transformations of Cervantes “La Gitanilla”, in: Dutch Art, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 45, 1982, pp. 263, 267, fig. 46 A. 
- Sumowski, Werner: Gemälde der Rembrandt – Schüler, 1983 – 1996, vol VI, pp. 3534 – 3535, Anm. 88.
- Exh. Cat. Het Gedroomde Land. Pastorale schilderkunst in de Gouden Eeuw, hrsg. von Peter van den Brink (et al), Utrecht 1993, pp.22, 235 – 238.
- Sumowski, Werner: Remarks on Jacob Adriaensz. Backer and Jan van Noordt, in: Master Drawings 36, 1998, p. 79, Anm. 15.
- Witt, David de: Jan van Noordt. Painter of History and Portraits, London u.a. 2007, Cat No. 31, pp. 146 – 149, fig. 147.

Lot 3021. Jan Wellens de Cock (Leiden circa 1470 – 1521 Antwerp), The temptation of Saint Anthony. Oil on panel. 27.7 x 37.2 cm. Estimate CHF 50 000 / 70 000 (€ 43 860 / 61 400). Lot sold CHF 168 500. Courtesy Koller Zurich.

Provenance: European private collection.

Expertise: Dr. Luuk Pijl, 19.7.2005 (copy available).

Exotic fauna with a feminine touch 
The Books, Manuscripts & Autographs auction on 26 March will feature the magnum opus of Maria Sybille Merian, a magnificently illustrated work on the flora and fauna of Surinam, “Dissertatio de generatione et metamorphosibus insectorum Surinamensium“ (CHF 60 000/90 000). Published in 1726, this treatise brought the daughter of the celebrated engraver Matthäus Merian the Elder posthumous fame in her homeland. A richly illuminated book of hours from Flanders, circa 1460, highlights the selection of manuscripts, and comes to the market after almost five decades in a private collection (CHF 70 000 / 90 000).

Lot 314. Merian Maria Sibylla. Dissertatio de generatione et metamorphosibus insectorum Surinamensium. Mit 1 gest. Frontispiz, 2 gest. Titelvignetten (in Wiederholung), 1 Kopfvignette mit Wappen sowie 72 altkolorierten Kupfertafeln von J. Mulder, P. Sluyter u. D. Stoopendael nach M. S. Merian. Den Haag, P. Gosse, 1726. Gr.-Folio. [5] Bll., 72 S. - BEIGEBUNDEN: Histoire des Insectes de l'Europe, dessinée d'après nature & expliquée ... où l'on traite de la génération & des différentes métamorphoses des chenilles, vers, papillons, mouches & autres insectes; & des plantes, des fleurs & des fruits dont ils se nourrissent. Traduite du hollandois en françois par Jean Marret. Mit kleiner kolorierter gestochener Titelvignette, grosser kolorierter Schlussvignette und 184 kolorierten Kupferstichen auf 47 Tafeln. Amsterdam, Jean Frederic Bernard, 1730. [2] Bll., 84 S. Kalbslederband d. Z. mit goldgepr. Rückentitel, reicher Rückenvergoldung und dreiseit. Goldschnitt (Rücken mit älteren Restaurierungen a. d. Gelenken, Kanten etw. berieben, Ecken bestossen). Estimate CHF 60 000 / 90 000 (€ 52 630 / 78 950). Courtesy Koller Zurich.