Attributed to Melchior FESELEN Passau (?), circa... Lot 15

Attributed to Melchior FESELEN Passau (?), circa 1495 - Ingolstadt, 1538 Judith bringing the head of Holofernes... Oil on linden board, two planks Dated '1535' on the upper door. Two old French labels on the back Judith bringing back the head of Holofernes, oil on panel, dated, attr. to M. Feselen 51 x 38.50 cm (20.08 x 15.16 in.) Provenance : Collection Johann Peter Weyer, Cologne ; His sale, Cologne, J. M. Heberle (H. Lempertz), August 25-30, 1862, No. 59; In 1899 in Paris, according to a label on the back; Private Collection, Lake Como Bibliography: Johann Peter Weyer, 'Beschreibung des Inhaltes der Sammlung von Gemälden älterer Meister des Herrn Johann Peter Weyer in Coeln', Cologne, 1852, no. 37. Johann Peter Weyer, 'Catalog der Sammlung von Gemälden älterer Meister des Herrn Johann Peter Weyer, Stadtbaumeister a. D. und Ritter des Leopold Orden', Cologne, 1859, No. 57 Horst Vey, "Johann Peter Weyer. Seine Gemäldesammlung und seine Kunstliebe", in 'Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch', vol. 28, 1966, p. 205, No. 33. Hiltrud Kier and Frank Günter Zehnder (eds.), 'Lust und Verlust II. Corpus-Band zu Kölner Gemäldesammlungen 1800-1860', Cologne, 1998, p. 454, no. 37. Comment: While the subject of this small painting is well known - the heroic Judith, having slaughtered the tyrant Holofernes, reports its leader to the inhabitants of Betulia (Judith 13, 11-16) - the treatment proposed here by the painter, using the format of the portrait and a tighter framing on the bust of the characters, is more unusual and appeals to the viewer. The date of creation of the work is indicated on the fortified door: 1535. It is a particularly early and rare painting of the German Renaissance that is offered here to our eyes, in all its singularity, combining refined elegance with a bitter realism. The ravishing Judith, adorned with a richly worked dress embroidered with her name, jewell