Gottfried von Wedig

Gottfried von Wedig Sumptuous meal Oil on wood. 63.5 x 96.8 cm. Possibly in the original frame dated 1623. Monogrammed lower center on the knife blade: W, above hand of the Antwerp Painters' Guild. Provenance Austrian private collection. - Im Kinsky, Vienna, 21.4.2006, lot 5 - German private collection. Literature E. Mai (ed.): Gottfried von Wedig. Still Life and Portraits, Cologne 1998, p. 84, no. S16. The present meal still life is an impressive testimony to an early "sumptuous meal". The extremely large, horizontal-format composition allowed Wedig to spread out a large number of objects on a table from a high vantage point, isolated and without overlapping against a dark background. Valuable tableware such as a Renaissance goblet or a glass à la façon de Venise is presented together with a roast chicken and fish on pewter plates, fruit and cheese. The thin painting style with reduced colors in favor of a brown-yellow tone is characteristic of Gottfried von Wedig. The forms of the pictorial objects are voluminous and three-dimensional, the composition is simple and gives each object space and impact. There are many motif references to three other "sumptuous meals" by Wedig with roast chicken (see E. Mai, op. cit., no. 6). The present painting is the largest version of this group, which is dated to around 1630. In this context, the date "1623" on the frame of the painting is interesting. However, it has not been possible to determine with certainty whether this is the original frame. However, the monogram "W" in conjunction with the hand of the Antwerp Painters' Guild on the knife blade indicates an early work by the painter and its possible connection to Antwerp. Together with Georg Flegel (1566-1638), whom he followed stylistically, Gottfried von Wedig is one of the main representatives of so-called Frankfurt still life painting. Born and active in Cologne, he probably initially studied under his grandfather, the portrait painter Bartholomäus Bruyn the Younger. He was awarded the title of master by 1608 at the latest. He is considered the most important portraitist of the wealthy Cologne patriciate in the first half of the 17th century. He achieved true mastery with his still lifes in the tradition of Dutch meal paintings. Wedig was the first painter to establish the still life genre in Cologne.