European Drawings 2: Catalogue of the Collections

JÔRG BREU THE ELDER

CIRCA 1475/76-1537

120 Tournament Scene

Pen and black ink and black chalk; diam. 25.5 cm (10 in.)

SC.GA.IO

MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: (Verso) collection mark of

Rijksprentenkabinet, Amsterdam (L. 2228); inscribed

Bruikleen 100 in graphite.

PROVENANCE:]. Hendriks, Oisterwijk, Holland, on

loan to Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (sale, Sotheby's, Am-

sterdam, April 25, 1983, lot 2); art market, Munich; art

market, Boston.

EXHIBITIONS: Gemdlde una Zeichnungen 1490-1918,

Galerie Arnoldi-Livie, Munich, Summer 1987, no. 2.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: None.

ALTHOUGH DRAWINGS OF TOURNAMENT SCENES HAVE

been associated with Breu,^1 this is the first to come to

light that can be attributed to him with certainty. While

many drawings by Breu survive only in copies, the orig-

inality of this example is attested to by the exceptional

spontaneity of the pen work and the numerous instances

of the pen line departing from the chalk underdrawing.

Particularly beautiful in this respect is the flowing drap-

ery of the horse's heraldic blanket; such passages of freely

rendered drapery are characteristic of Breu, as can be

seen, for example, in Bridal Scene (see following entry).

This is one of the few stained-glass designs by Breu

for which the actual window—25 centimeters in diam-

eter—survives (Nuremberg, Germanisches National-

museum inv. M. M. 62).^2 In terms of subject matter, Breu

followed the tradition of tournament windows showing

jousters, a trio of heralds on horseback, and a jester.

However, while these motifs were generally placed in

separate quatrefoils, he abandoned this Gothic format in

favor of a unified scene embellished with architectural

and genre details.^3 Breu may have been inspired to do this

by prints such as The Tournament of 1500 by Master MZ.^4

1. Prague, Národní Galerie inv. 22.444; Berlin, Kupferstich-
   kabinettinv. 15251; Louvre inv. 18.911.


2. H. Schmitz, Die Glasgemàlde des Koniglichen Kunstgewerbe-
   museums in Berlin (Berlin, 1913), vol. i, pp. 155-56, fig. 256.
   H. Schmitz thought the window was made at the Hirschvogel
   workshop after a Durer school drawing of circa 1500.


3. Schmitz (note 2), vol. 2, no. 266, pi. 40.


4. M. Lehrs, Geschichte unà kritischer Katalog des deutschen, nied-
   erldndischen undfranzosischen Kup/erstichs imXV.Jahrhundert (Vi-
   enna, 1908-34), vol. 8, pp. 369-71, no. 18.

274 CENTRAL EUROPEAN SCHOOL • BREU THE ELDER