Paul Troger, 1698 – 1762

THE ASSUMPTION OF MARY INTO HEAVEN Oil on canvas. 50.5 x 40 cm. Bozzetto for the ceiling fresco in Bressanone Cathedral. The fact that this is a preliminary design is evident from the deviations from the executed fresco, which Troger created in 1748-50 as his last major work before devoting himself solely to easel paintings. The fresco was painted in the vaulted area above the high altar. Here, as in the ceiling painting, a view into the heavenly sphere is illusioned, with banks of clouds on which two cherubs can be seen alongside angels' heads, carrying Mary upwards where she is received by Christ. The dove of the Holy Spirit hovers above the entire clustered composition of figures. This preliminary design still reckons with a circular stucco frame. In the execution, however, the golden frame border is curved several times. In addition, the bozzetto was intended to continue the pictorial scene with putti beyond the lower frame, which was not to be executed in the cathedral dome. These differences show that this was a mature preliminary design created before 1748, which could not yet have anticipated the actual later architectural situation. In 1720, Troger received support for an extended study trip to Italy, where he was able to study with Giambattista Piazzetta in Venice and Francesco Solimena in Naples, among others. His first major work, the fresco in the dome of the Kajetanerkirche in Salzburg, was painted in 1727. From 1731, his fame increased with the ceiling painting in the hall of Melk Abbey. He subsequently also worked together with J. J. Zeiller. He was the most important teacher of Austrian painters of his century and rector of the Vienna Academy until 1757. A.R. (1401273) (11) Provenance: Captain Stewart (according to label verso). Presumably Marquès de Balanzó Collection. Literature: Cf. Hans Tintelnot, Die barocke Freskomalerei in Deutschland, Munich 1952, p. 97 ff., ill. 57. Paul Troger, 1698 - 1762 THE ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN MARY Oil on canvas. 50.5 x 40 cm. Sketch of the ceiling fresco in the Cathedral of Brixen. It is obvious that this is a preliminary sketch due to the variations compared to the completed fresco, which Troger created in 1748-50 as his last major work before he solely focused on easel paintings. Provenance: Captain Stewart (according label on reverse). Probably Collection Marquès de Balanzó. Literature: cf. Hans Tintelnot, Die barocke Freskomalerei in Deutschland, Munich 1952, pp. 97, ill. 57. (†)