A rare pair of Munich Baroque silver reliefs
Finely chased rectangular repoussé reliefs depicting the adoration of the shepherds in the stable at Bethlehem and Christ's circumcision in the Temple of Jerusalem, presumably based on late 16th century Dutch designs. In a moulded ebonised wood surround. H 21; W 16.3 cm. H with surround c. 27.5; W 23 cm.
Marks of Gottfried Lang, around 1620 - 1630.
Gottfried Lang was one of the most important goldsmiths working in Munich during the time of Maximilian I of Bavaria. Frankenburger mentions seven works by the master still existent in 1912, including two monstrances in the 'Rich Chapel' of the Munich Residenz, two reliquaries in the parish church of Altötting and a silver relief on the base of a cross in the Wengenkirche in Ulm.
In the southern aisle of Freising Cathedral is Lang's magnificent silver retable for the icon of Mary in the altar of St Luke's image, which was commissioned in 1629 in the course of the extensive 'Renovatio' under Prince Bishop Veit Adam von Gepeckh.
Literature
For more on Gottfried Lang see Max Frankenburger, Die Alt-Münchner Goldschmiede und ihre Kunst, Munich 1912, p. 346 f.
For the altarpiece in the cathedral of Freising see Annette Schommers, Das barocke Silberretabel für die Lukasikone. Ein Werk des Münchner Goldschmieds Gottfried Lang aus dem Jahr 1629, in: Das Freisinger Lukasbild, Munich 2019, p. 147 ff.
The Rijksmuseum Amsterdam houses an almost identical relief dated 1607 by the Utrecht goldsmith Paulus van Vianen (obj. no. BK-1979-101),
Cf. also Johan ter Molen, Van Vianen, een Utrechtse familie van zilversmeden met een internationale faam, part 2, Rotterdam 1984, no. 86.