MASTER OF THE BERLIN ROUNDELS
ACTIVE CIRCA 1515-ZJ3 A Standard Bearer before
a Castle
134 A Flutist and Drummer
before a Moated Castle
Pen and black ink; diam. 6.6 cm (2^5 /8Ín.)
8y.GA.i46, 8y.GA.i47
MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS! None.
PROVENANCE: F. Ritter von Hauslab; prince of Liech-
tenstein; private collection (sale, Sotheby's, New York,
January 16, 1986, lot 18); art market, London.
EXHIBITIONS: None.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: W. Hugelshofer, "Der deutsche Zeich-
ner der Rundblàtter von 1515," Jahrbuch der Berliner Mu-
seen y, no. 2 (1965), pp. 204, 206, nos. 39, 40; F. Zink,
Kataloge des Germanischen Nationalmuseum Nürnberg: Die
deutschen Handzeichnungen, vol. i, Die Handzeichnungen
bis zur Mitte des 16. Jahrhunderts (Nuremberg, 1968), p.
154 , under no. 122.THE DISCOVERY OF THE AUTHOR OF THESE AND
thirty-nine other small round drawings has proven elu-
sive. E. Buchner^1 believed them to be by the creator of
the etchings monogrammed CB, whom Rott identified
as Christoph Bockstorffer, a printmaker, painter, and de-
signer of stained-glass windows who probably trained in
Augsburg and might have been active in Constance.^2
Buchner's theory was superseded by that of Hugelshofer
(1965, pp. i89fF.), who was the first to assemble all of the
known roundels. He proposed that they were drawn
circa 1515, the date on a single example in the Kupfer-
stichkabinett, Berlin (inv. xdz 4yo6), by an artist activein southern Germany, probably Augsburg. Besides the
roundels, he attributed to the master two larger rectan-
gular drawings, one of which is in the Staatliche Gra-
phische Sammlung (inv. 5632) and depicts two fighting
soldiers. The attribution of the Munich sheet is most
strongly supported by a comparison with the pair of
roundels in the Museum's collection. Most recently, K.
Brand has pointed out that the group is probably not by
a single hand and has reasserted Bockstorffer's authorship
of some of the roundels.^3
The Landsknechte (mercenary soldiers) shown in the
Museum's drawings became popular subjects in south
German and Swiss art around the time the roundels were
made. The pose of the standard bearer, with his left hand
on his sword hilt and right hand gripping the banner, re-
calls Durer s engraving of the same subject of circa 1502
(B.8y[98]v.io,y). The master's depiction of him at a
slight angle—rather than frontally as in the Durer—adds
a measure of depth to the figure, enhancing his integral
relationship with the landscape. The fifer and drummer
set against a spiraling trail leading to a distant castle dis-
play an analogous highly developed capacity to evoke
three-dimensional space.I.E. Buchner, "Zwei oberdeutsche Meister der Reformations-
zeit," Zeitschriftjur bildende Kunst 59 (1925-26), pp. 52-54.
2. H. Rott, "Beitràge zur Geschichte der oberrheinisch-
schwàbischen Glasmalerei: Konstanzer Glasmaler und Glas-
malerei in der ersten Hàlfte des 16. Jahrhunderts," Oberrhein-
ische Kunst i (1925), pp. 29ff.
3. K. Brand, "Das Triptychon von 1524 in der Konradi-Kapelle
des Munsters zu Konstanz und die Christoph-Bockstorffer-
Frage," Jahrbuch der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen in Baden-
IVürttemberg 55 (1988), pp. 65, n. 31; 80-81.300 CENTRAL EUROPEAN SCHOOL • MASTER OF BERLIN ROUNDELS