Joseph Werner, attributed to
(1637 – Bern – 1710)
Death and the Avenging Angel Threaten Adam and Eve
Pen in black and brown, with grey-brown wash
25.5 x 19.5 cm
Our drawing, presumably executed c. 1670, relates to a group of works representing fantastic appearances commissioned by the Wittelsbach family while Werner worked in Augsburg. Inspired by ghostly night scenes in mausoleums by Schönfeldt, Werner has here enriched the standard iconography by combining the presence of both the avenging angel and an allegory of death threatening the fallen and deeply shaken First Couple. The drawing is intended as a finished autonomous work, similar to the “Adoration of the three Kings”, in the Albertina, inv. no. 3663, (see Die Zeichnungen der deutschen Schulen, vol. IV, Albertina, Vienna 1933, cat. no. 663, pl. 186)
We kindly thank David Mandrella, Paris, for research assistance.