LATEST XIXth CENTURY SCHOOL. "The blessing of the animals". - Lot 11

LATEST XIXth CENTURY SCHOOL. "The blessing of the animals". After the miniature by Bertram Von Minden. Oil and tempera on panel. H.73 L.46. Scene depicting Christ blessing the animals of Creation, surrounded by land, sea and winged creatures. Good overall condition, old restoration visible in the center of the panel, light homogeneous patina. Remarks: This moving work is a 19th-century interpretation of a medieval composition attributed to Bertram von Minden (Master Bertram), a great German Gothic painter active in Hamburg in the 14th century, notably the author of the famous Grabow Altarpiece. The scene, inspired by iconography from Genesis, shows Christ blessing the animals in an atmosphere of universal peace and harmony. Stylized birds, fish and mammals can be seen, set against a gilded vegetal background typical of Gothic painting. The 19th-century painter, faithful to the spirit of the medieval model, offers here a version that is both spiritual and decorative, blending tempera and oil to achieve effects of transparency and chromatic richness. With its rare subject and fine execution, this work is part of the historicist movement of the 19th century, marked by the rediscovery and valorization of medieval religious painting.