32.5 by 44 cm.
In a letter dated 1860, von Schadow writes: “Before my illness, I painted a Mater Dolorosa, as my swan song and gave it to the parish church of St. Andreas [in Düsseldorf]…, whose priest is my confessor.” (Cordula Grewe, Wilhelm Schadow, Werkverzeichnis, Petersberg, 2017, p. 50). Our painting is von Schadow’s oil sketch for the final version of his Mater Dolorosa. Both works were included in a major exhibition devoted to Christian art held in Düsseldorf in 1909.
Provenance
Hans Pullem, Düsseldorf (1877-1951)
Private Collection, Germany
Exhibited
Düsseldorf, Ausstellung für christliche Kunst, May 15-October 3, 1909, no. 762
Catalogue note
Early in his career, Friedrich Wilhelm von Schadow was a member of what eventually became known as the Nazarenes. Founded in 1809, by two German artists, Johann Friedrich Overbeck (1789-1869) and Franz Pforr (1788-1812), they called themselves the Lukasbund or Brotherhood of St. Luke (St. Luke being the patron saint of painters). Their mandate was to renew Christian art in the spirit of German Gothic and Italian quattrocento painting. In 1810, Overbeck and Pforr left Germany and moved to Rome, where they took up residence in the abandoned cloister of Sant’Isidoro. Here, they attracted many of Germany’s most gifted artists, including Wilhelm von Schadow. The group’s activity in Rome resulted in the title the Nazarenes, which came about because of their Christ-like appearance and long hair. Most of the group, including Wilhelm von Schadow, converted to Catholicism. While von Schadow eventually became more well-known for his longstanding directorship of the esteemed and progressive Düsseldorf Academy, which emphasized landscape and plein air painting, he never abandoned his early Nazarene roots or his Catholicism.
In the last decade of his life, von Schadow painted a large-scale Pietà (161 by 214 cm.). Cordula Crewe, the author of the catalogue raisonné on von Schadow dates this painting to 1852. In a letter dated 1860, von Schadow writes: “Before my illness, I painted a Mater Dolorosa, as my swan song and gave it to the parish church of St. Andreas [in Düsseldorf]…, whose priest is my confessor.” (Cordula Grewe, Wilhelm Schadow, Werkverzeichnis, Petersberg, 2017, p. 50). Our painting is von Schadow’s oil sketch for the final version of his Mater Dolorosa. Both works were included in a major exhibition devoted to Christian art held in Düsseldorf in 1909. At the time the oil sketch was owned and lent to the exhibition by the German painter, Hans Pullem; on the reverse of our painting is a handwritten inscription which reads: “Besitz von Maler Hans Pullem.”(property of the painter, Hans Pullem), thereby indicating that it was the painting included in the 1909 show.
Von Schadow’s palette for the Pietà is reminiscent of paintings by Raphael and therefore harks back to his early training as a Nazarene painter. Mary mourns the dead body of her Son and is surrounded by the other two Marys, St. John, the beloved disciple and either Joseph of Arimathea or Nicodemus. Von Schadow sets the scene against a dramatic sky and silhouettes the Blessed Virgin Mary against the base of the cross. Often in sacred scenes from 15th century Italian and Northern art, the patron, who commissioned the work is included as part of the figure group. In the Pietà, von Schadow is also the patron; he donated the final version of the painting to his parish church in Düsseldorf. While he does not physically appear, his faith and inspiration still shine through as if he were kneeling with his hands in prayer as part of this sacred scene.