652 - C. STÖLZEL (*1792) after NAEKE (*1786), Saint Elizabeth, 1834, copper engraving

C. STÖLZEL (*1792) after NAEKE (*1786), Saint Elizabeth, 1834, copper engraving Christian Ernst Stölzel (1792, Dresden – 1837, ibid.) after Gustav Heinrich Naeke (1786, Frauenstein (Saxony) – 1835, Dresden): St. Elizabeth Gives Alms at Wartburg Castle near Eisenach, 1834, copper engraving Technique: Copper engraving on paper Inscription: Signed in the lower part of the printing plate: “H. Näke del. et pinx. / E. Stölzel sc.” Inscribed at the bottom of the printing plate: “SAINT ELIZABETH. Exact reproduction of a drawing by H. Näke—which, along with the large oil painting based on it, is part of the collection of Mr. von Quandt in Dresden. Purchased by the Saxon Art Association in 1835." Dated at the bottom: "1834." Date: 1834 Description: Naeke’s painting “Saint Elizabeth Giving Alms in the Courtyard of Wartburg Castle” is one of the major works of German Nazarene art. The status of the painting, which was lost for a long time, is undisputed today. Naeke worked for seven years in Rome and Dresden on this large-format painting, which reflects the essence of German-Roman Romanticism with remarkable purity. In the 1820s, themes drawn from Christian and Old German legends were the exception rather than the rule among the Nazarenes, who almost exclusively favored subjects from the New Testament in panel painting, with a few also drawn from the Old Testament. The skillful composition of the figurative scene, in which two groups of people stand facing each other against a medieval architectural backdrop, is admirable. The group depicting the merciful Countess Palatine with her entourage, who receives the poor and sick in her castle courtyard, occupies almost exactly one-third of the picture surface, the larger part of which is reserved for the “people,” who are portrayed as pitiable figures. The idealization of the wretched figures and their beautiful outlines—which today seem rather unsettling—were praised by contemporaries. While the noble ladies in the left third of the painting appear smooth and beautiful, like models wearing makeup, there are interesting, carefully detailed character heads among the crowd. In 1834, the draftsman and engraver Christian Ernst Stölzel was commissioned to produce an etching based on Naeke’s painting as an annual gift for the members of the Saxon Art Society. The print, issued in 1835—the year of Naeke’s death—shows a number of notable deviations from the painted version. Stölzel used a drawing of the same size by the artist, which is in the Dresden Kupferstich-Kabinett, as a model for his etching. The comparison reveals that the changes to the painting were intentional. They pertain in particular to the main figure, St. Elizabeth herself. In the 1834 print version, her special status is diminished in two respects. In the painting, Naeke particularly emphasized her social status. Here she is the noble princess in splendid robes, adorned and honored with the golden count’s crown, who graciously condescends to the poor. The later version, on the other hand, makes the saint appear almost like a commoner’s wife—rather plain in appearance as well—without a crown or princely attire, and she recedes into the group of her companions. This emphasizes the Franciscan element of the legend of St. Elizabeth. The change in the imaginative, Romanesque architecture should not be overlooked either. The octagonal beveling of both the palace corner and the two-step staircase leading to the portal in the painting has been replaced by a cubically simplified “straightening.” Albrecht Dürer’s study, in which there are no broken forms as in the painting, seems to have influenced this change. In the print, the two groups are visually separated much more decisively by the corner of the wall and the edge of the shadow. The figure of Elizabeth now stands out more clearly against a dark background. The 1834 composition thus appears more austere than that of the painting. The simplification of the architecture and the clear separation of the areas of light and shadow also enhance the graphic impact of the print. Like many works by the Nazarenes, Naeke’s painting also exhibits weaknesses in color treatment, as color is not used as a sensual, optical phenomenon but is instead subordinated to the plastic-linear framework. Thus, Athanasius Count Raczynski, a friend of the Nazarenes who later adopted a Düsseldorf style, preferred the uncolored after-engraving to the painting, because “it reproduces everything beautiful without containing the embarrassing.” Incidentally, the engraving and preparatory drawing reveal Naeke’s drawing style at the height of his late maturity. The drawing by the forty-eight-year-old Dresden Academy professor—now heavily yellowed and marred by stains—can be described as the legacy of his aesthetic credo, as he died a few months after completing this work. It is a Nazarene’s commitment to the line as a medium of expression and to the human figure as