Lot number 3543 - Auction 141
ANBETUNG DER HEILIGEN DREI KÖNIGE, UM 1695

ATTRIBUTED TO ANDREAS DALL POZZO 1642 Trento - 1709 Vienna ADORATION OF THE MAGI, C. 1695 Oil on canvas. 91.5 x 64.5 cm (F. 104 x 77 cm). Part. slightly dam., slight loss of colour, min. old rest. Frame. An identical composition by Pozzo was auctioned by the Dorotheum auction house in Vienna on 31 March 2023. The painting there was identified as a work by Pozzo by Dr Johann Kronbichler. Dr Tobias Nickel wrote in the auction catalogue: "In the painting, the adoration of the infant Jesus by the Magi is presented in a very special and original way. Mary and Joseph present the newborn King of the Jews, to whom they had set out to pay homage (Mt 2:1-12), to the kings who are lined up one behind the other on the right-hand side. The one in the foreground is depicted in a praying and deeply bowed posture, the middle and oldest of the three bends down to the child and kisses his hand and the third king, depicted as a Moor, looks devoutly at the child. With the exception of those in the background, the accompanying figures are also taking part in the events with interest and devotion. A monumental column on a high plinth rises in the centre of the background, while the heads of the ox and donkey in the shadowed background on the left also suggest the stable in Bethlehem. The entire group of figures is brightly illuminated by the light streaming in from the top right, bringing the colourfulness of the robes to full bloom. The painting has no signature, but the stylistic character of the various facial types, certain postures and the strong colouring can be clearly attributed to Andrea Pozzo (1642-1709). Although an Adoration of the Magi by him has survived as an altarpiece in the chapel of the Brotherhood of Bankers and Merchants in the Jesuit church in Turin (around 1694), it has a different composition and is therefore not really suitable for comparison. A large-format version of this painting is not known." Cf. Dr. Tobias Nickel, Dorotheum Vienna, auction of 31 March 2023, lot 23. Provenance: Hessian private collection. According to the owner, the painting was a gift from Isidor Markus Emanuel, Bishop of Speyer to the current owners in the 1960s.