Lot 3.  Simon Franck (circa 1500 - 1546/47 Aschaffenburg), Wings from an altarpiece: Saint Achatius with a train of knights and nobles; and Saint Ursula with an entourage of maidens, a pair, both oil on panel, with gilded and incised arched tops, each: 219.1 x 97.8 cm.; 86¼ x 38½ in. Estimate: 400,000 - 600,000 GBP. Lot sold 735,000 GBP. © Sotheby's.

Note: These large, impressive panels originally constituted the wings of an altarpiece, datable to between 1520–23, painted by Simon Franck, who was among the most accomplished pupils of one of the most famous artists of the Northern Renaissance, Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553). Franck became court painter to Cranach’s great patron, Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg (1490–1545), the most powerful prelate in the Holy Roman Empire, producing overtly Catholic imagery for the cardinal at a time when Cranach himself was working for the architect of the Reformation, Martin Luther.

The wings depict two martyr saints and their entourages. Achatius is a saint rarely depicted, identified in Christian legend as a Cappadocian Greek centurion of the imperial army martyred in around 304 AD when he refused to renounce his Christian faith. He is listed as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, or Auxiliary Saints, venerated in Catholicism for their effective intercession against various diseases. Achatius is pictured here wearing a full suit of armour, denoting his status as a soldier, holding a lance and a branch in his hands. His companions are men of different ages, some also wearing armour, others wearing fashionable, noble contemporary dress. Ursula is a figure more commonly found in German painting. She was, according to medieval legend, a princess who died in a massacre at Cologne along with 11,000 virginal handmaidens upon returning from a pilgrimage to Rome, reputedly in the late 4th century AD. The saint is represented holding an open book and the arrow that symbolises her martyrdom. She is differentiated from her maiden companions by her hair, which is pinned up under a bonnet and veil, as opposed to the loose-flowing hair or plaits worn by the other women.

Both groups are shown tightly packed against black backdrops with half-rounded tops, figures in profile on either side of the compositions framing the protagonists. The upper areas are gilded and incised with floral patterns, similar to the panels of The Last Supper altarpiece in the Kunigundenkirche, Rochlitz, attributed to Franck, and datable to circa 1521. The subject of the central panel originally flanked by the present wings must remain uncertain, but it is likely also to have been topped with an arched gilded and incised section, if it was not carved. It may also perhaps have been characterised by the strong, limited colour scheme of black, orange, red, white and green, which contributes to the striking impression made by these works.

Simon Franck is understood to have trained in the workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder, who entrusted his pupil with several important commissions for Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg, for whom Franck worked in Halle, and afterwards in Aschaffenburg, by which time he had set up as an independent master.¹ His most notable works include his supervision and execution of parts of the extraordinarily extensive cycle of 16 altarpieces (comprising more than 142 separate panels) based on Cranach’s designs, depicting the Passion and Saints, for Cardinal Albrecht’s collegiate church of Saints Maurice and Mary Magdalene (the Neues Stift) in Halle, between 1520 and 1525. Franck is also known to have worked on the ambitious altarpiece for the Marktkirche in Halle, with its elaborately embellished Renaissance architecture, in circa 1529.² A possible self-portrait of Franck may be found in the figure holding an embroidered black beret in the centre of the large Mass of Saint Gregory with Albrecht of Brandenburg panel, which carries an erstwhile attribution to Franck.³

The artist’s style and aesthetic is clearly heavily indebted to that of his master, Cranach, though his technique is more plastic. The physiognomy of his figures’ faces is consistent across both panels: eyes set relatively far apart, often with a slightly furrowed brow; features defined graphically, with small, projecting chins, and the women in particular characterised by their high foreheads. Extensive underdrawing defining these contours is visible in the flesh tones, probably executed with a brush. The crowns of the figures' heads are each modelled with a slightly darker curve, giving the impression of snug-fitting, cap-like hair. In the hands that are visible – those of the young nobleman in green, and Ursula’s – the fingers are described with spare, confident drawing, with large fingernails and rather flexible thumbs. Franck’s rendering of drapery is also idiosyncratic. This is particularly notable in the costumes of Saint Ursula and her entourage, where the hems of their cloaks form ornamental but planar, calligraphic lines, and the quantities of material beneath appear to hold their own, sculptural volume. The same effect is found in another portrayal of Saint Ursula by Franck, in the Museen der Stadt, Aschaffenburg.⁴