24 - Cosmas Damian Asam

Cosmas Damian Asam 1686-1739, attributed The Death of Saint Nepomuk Oil on canvas, lined 109.5 x 67.5 cm, 120 x 77 cm with frame Label on the reverse with information about the artist and the subject Cosmas Damian Asam is one of the most important figures of the South German Late Baroque and a pioneer of the Bavarian Rococo. Trained in Rome, he made a significant impact, particularly as a fresco painter, on the interior decoration of numerous churches. Together with his brother, the sculptor and stucco artist Egid Quirin Asam, he created impressive sacred interior designs in which architecture, painting, and sculpture interact. His religious compositions are characterized by dynamic groups of figures, dramatic lighting, and the fusion of earthly and heavenly realms. The painting attributed to Asam depicts Saint John of Nepomuk, who has fallen to the ground, holding a crucifix in his arms. In front of him, in the lower left corner of the painting, lies an open book. His radiant face, with closed eyes and surrounded by a delicately suggested halo, is turned toward heaven. The pose is reminiscent of depictions of the suffering Christ and lends the scene a dramatic quality. To the right of the saint, two putti are engrossed in a book, and to the left, two angelic figures are also turned toward a manuscript. Above this group, cloud formations with angelic heads open up. The upper section is crowned by three floating angelic figures, one of whom carries a bowl filled with flowers and looks down upon the scene. The composition, staggered upward, guides the viewer’s gaze from the saint’s slumped body into the heavenly sphere. The vertical arrangement of the groups of figures is reminiscent of the structure of a Baroque altarpiece. According to a later legend, John of Nepomuk was the confessor of the wife of King Wenceslas IV of Bohemia. When he refused to reveal the contents of her confession to the king, the king had him tortured and thrown from Prague’s Charles Bridge into the Vltava River. His violent death in 1393 is historically documented in connection with a conflict between the king and the Archbishop of Prague; the tradition of the martyr of the seal of confession did not emerge until later. The depiction described here should be understood less as a portrayal of a supposedly historical event and more as a devotional image of his death and his reception into heaven. The crucifix held close to his body emphasizes his connection to Christ, while his upward gaze and the assembled angels vividly convey the hope of salvation.