Adoration of the Magi

Count Moritz von Fries (1777-1826), Vienna, probably by 1804-1824 [1];

Purchased at his sale, Prenten, De Vries, Brondgeest, Engelberts & Roos, Amsterdam, June 21, 1824, as part of Kunstboek No. 14, no. 6, by Brondy, 1824; [2]

Friedrich August II, King of Saxony (1797-1854), Dresden, by 1854 [3];

By inheritance to Maria Anna, Queen of Saxony (1805-1877), Dresden, 1854-probably 1877 [4];

By inheritance to her nephew, Georg (1832-1904), King of Saxony, Dresden, probably 1877-1904;

By descent to his son, Prince Johann-Georg (1869-1938), Dresden, probably 1904-November 14, 1933;

Probably purchased at his sale, Kupferstiche Alter Meister aus der Sammlung König Friedrich August II von Sachsen , C. G. Boerner, Leipzig, November 14-15, 1933, lot 474, by Alden Galleries, Kansas City, MO, November-December 1933 [5];

Purchased from Alden Galleries, Kansas City, MO, by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1933.

NOTES:

[1] According to Max Lehrs, Geschichte und Kritischer Katalog des Deutschen, Niederländischen und Französischen Kupferstichs im XV. Jahrhundert, 11 (Vienna: Gesellschaft für Vervielfältigende Kunst, 1910), 73, this print once bore Franz Rechberger‘s collector’s mark on its verso (Lugt 2133; his name and a date—in this instance, 1804). Rechberger (1771-1841) was an artist, curator of Count Moritz von Fries’s collection from 1797-1820 and Director of the Albertina in Vienna from 1827. His mark is no longer visible on the Nelson-Atkins impression, but according to Dr. Joyce Zelen, Curator of Prints, Rijksmuseum, it was sometimes written in pencil and it is possible it could have been removed at some point. According to Frits Lugt, Les Marques de collections de dessins & d’estampes (1921), online edition by the Fondation Custodia, L. 2133, consulted July 31, 2024, Rechberger’s signature was applied to prints in Count von Fries’s collection, they were not necessarily owned by Rechberger himself. No prints attributed to the Master E.S. or depicting the Adoration of the Magi are listed in the undated (possibly ca. 1845) catalogue of Rechberger’s prints, held by the Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin.

[2] According to Lehrs 1910, 73.

[3] Friedrich August II’s collector’s stamp (Lugt 971) appears in part in the lower right corner of the print’s recto. It is likely Rechberger was involved in the purchase of the print for Friedrich August II’s collection. According to Lugt 1921, L. 2133, Franz Rechberger, “il fit prendre le chemin de l'Albertina à plus d'un trésor de la collection qu'il venait de quitter” (“he took more than one treasure from the collection he had just let to the Albertina”).

[4] According to Lugt 1921, L. 971, following the death of Friedrich August II, his collection passed into trust to Queen Marie, then Prince Georg, then to Prince Johann-Georg. Dates of ownership are not indicated, but it is likely control of the trust passed upon death.

[5] Considering only five weeks passed between the Boerner sale and the Nelson-Atkins’s purchase from Alden Galleries, it is reasonable to assume Alden Galleries purchased this print at the Boerner sale.