DANIEL LINDTMAYER
159 Job on the Dung Heap
Pen and black ink and gray wash; H: 39.8 cm (i5^5 /s in.);
W: 31.5 cm (i2^3 /s in.)
85.GA.290
MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: At top, in cartouche, in-
scribed lob.i.XLn in black ink; above the design, in-
scribed Hoffnung is der tugentt Zier /Hoffnung spricht. hapt
gutten Mut/Hoffnung mittgedult ist noc[h] ein Zier. /Durch
hoffnug werden bhallten wier / Verzagt nichtgar er wirdt noch
gutt in brown ink; at bottom, dated 1581 in black ink by
Lindtmayer.
PROVENANCE: Private collection, France (sale, Hotel
Drouot, Paris, November 16 , 1984, lot 145); art market,
London.
EXHIBITIONS: None.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: None.THIS IS ONE OF MANY SURVIVING STUDIES BY
Lindtmayer for stained-glass windows, at least thirteen
of which date from 1581. The subject is shown in the tra-
ditional manner, with several episodes in the saga of Job
combined. At the right he is seated on a heap of dung
wearing only a loincloth, his body covered with sores.
To the left stand his wife and mocking friends. Behind
Job stands an expressionistic figure of Satan who
scourges him, while in the background his cattle are
being stolen and his children flee a burning house. Pa-
tience and Hope are shown in the spandrels, personifying
the words of the verse inscribed above. The choice of an
Old Testament subject and the moralizing tone of the im-
agery are typical of Lindtmayer.
The architectural format of the design, with an al-
most circular central image within a rectangular design,
occurs frequently in Lindtmayer's drawings after 1575.
The rich plant and fruit ornamentation is also character-
istic of his stained-glass designs. Other hallmarks of his
style include the animated gestures and poses, lively pen
work, and broad use of wash. Among his known draw-
ings, perhaps the closest to this one in style and format
was a sheet with the Massacre of the Innocents of 1582, de-
stroyed during the Second World War.^1i. F. Thone, Daniel Lindtmayer, 1552-1606/7 (Zurich, 1975),
no. 117.310 SWISS SCHOOL • LINDTMAYER