The Mourning Virgin

Stiftskirche, Aschaffenburg, Germany, ca. 1510-1850 [1];

Jakob von Hefner-Alteneck (1811-1903), Aschaffenburg, 1850-1903 [2];

Purchased at his posthumous sale, Kunstsammlungen des verewigten Herrn Geheimrats Dr. Jakob von Hefner-Alteneck , Galerie Hugo Helbing, Munich, June 9, 1904, lot 324, as Die heilige Jungfrau , by the dealer A. S. Drey, Munich, 1904 [3];

Hans Schwarz (d. 1909), Vienna, by 1909;

Probably purchased at his posthumous sale, Sammlung Hans Schwarz, Wien , Rudolph Lepke's Kunst-Auctions-Haus, Berlin, November 8, 1910, lot 56, as Stehende Figur. „Die heilige Jungfrau“, by the dealer Max Cramer, Kassel, Germany, 1910 [4];

Purchased from Cramer by Walter von Pannwitz (1856-1920), Berlin and Heemstede, Netherlands, 1910-1920 [5];

Inherited by his wife, Catalina von Pannwitz (1876-1959), Heemstede, The Netherlands, 1920-at least March 1949 [6];

Transferred by Catalina von Pannwitz to the Aurora Trust, Amsterdam, late 1940s-July 13, 1962 [7];

Purchased from the Aurora Trust, through Catalina von Pannwitz’s daughter, Ursula Pelham, Lady Chichester (née von Pannwitz, 1920-1989), by Rosenberg and Stiebel, Inc., New York, stock no. 4387, July 13, 1962-1964;

Purchased from Rosenberg and Stiebel, Inc. by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1964 [8].

NOTES:

[1] According to art historian Justus Bier, in a letter to NAMA Curator Ralph T. Coe, dated October 22, 1963, NAMA curatorial file, the sculpture was part of a crucifixion group on an altar in the Stiftskirche. It was removed in the early 19th century and replaced by a neo-Gothic altar.

[2] According to Jakob von Hefner-Alteneck, Trachten, Kunstwerke und Geräthschaften von frühen Mittelalter bis Ende des Achtzehnten Jahrhunderts , 7 (Frankfurt am Main: Verlag von Heinrich Keller, 1886), 16, von Hefner-Alteneck acquired this sculpture in Aschaffenburg in 1850. The date of von Hefner-Alteneck’s purchase is slightly different in the catalogue of his 1904 posthumous sale, where it is listed as 1851.

[3] According to G. Anton Weber, Til Riemenschneider. Sein Leben und Wirken , 3rd ed. (Regensberg: J. Habbel, 1911), 217, A. S. Drey acquired the sculpture in 1904.

[4] Considering the Schwarz sale took place on November 8, and the date of Walter von Pannwitz’s purchase from Cramer is listed as 1910 in documentation of the von Pannwitz collection, it is probable Cramer bought the sculpture from the Schwarz sale. See Frick Art Reference Library, MS.065 Rosenberg & Stiebel Archive, Subject Files – Rosenberg & Stiebel, Inc. – Pannwitz, von, Lists, 1959.

[5] Frick Art Reference Library, MS.065 Rosenberg & Stiebel Archive, Subject Files – Rosenberg & Stiebel, Inc. – Pannwitz, von, Lists, 1959.

[6] Catalina von Pannwitz left the Netherlands for Switzerland (and later Argentina), with the approval of German Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering, in 1941. According to a letter from W. Hartsuyker, Catalina von Pannwitz’s secretary, to Rijksmuseum Director Frederik Schmidt-Degener, October 17, 1941, this sculpture was included in a group of objects from the von Pannwitz collection that was stored at the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam in, or prior to, 1941. These objects were moved from the Museum Boijmans to a bomb shelter in Bentveld, and then transferred to the custody of the Rijksmuseum and moved to the bunkers in the Zandvoort sand dunes in October 1941. The sculpture was moved to the Rijksmuseum after the war, where it remained until it was transferred to the Amsterdam Bank with other objects from the von Pannwitz collection in March 1949. See Noord-Hollands Archief, Haarlem, 11.1.37.2132: Stukken betreffende de bewaarneming van kunstvoorwerpen van particulieren en instellingen tijdens de tweede wereldoorlog en de teruggave daarvan, 1939-1951; 12. Schilderijen uit de verzameling Von Pannwitz, 1941, 1946, and Collection von Pannwitz dossier, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, copies in NAMA curatorial files.

[7] Catalina von Pannwitz established the Aurora Trust as a holding entity for the von Pannwitz art collection. The trust remained under control of the von Pannwitz family. The sculpture was still in Amsterdam as late as June 4, 1959, when it was included on a pro-forma invoice create for Rosenberg & Stiebel. Frick Art Reference Library, MS.065 Rosenberg & Stiebel Archive, Subject Files – Rosenberg & Stiebel, Inc. – Pannwitz, von, Lists, 1959.

[8] Rosenberg & Stiebel paid commissions to both Eric de Goldschmidt-Rothschild and S & R Rosenberg, Ltd. at the time of the sculpture’s sale to the Nelson-Atkins. Their role in the transaction is currently unclear; research is ongoing.