Eugen Frisch (d. 1972), Austria;

Thence by descent to🔴 his grandson, the present owner, by 2015.

P. van den Brink, 'A shattered jigsaw puzzle: On a partly reconstructed Altarpiece by the Master of the Antwerp Adoration', in Wallraf-Richartz Jahrbuch, ဣvol. 68, Cologne 2007, p. 168, fig. 16b, reproduced p. 175 (as Master of the Antwerp Adoration);

C. Scailliérez in François Ier et l'Art des Pays-Bas, exh. cat., Musée du Louvre, Paris, 2017–18, p. 86♓, fig. 32, r༒eproduced in colour p. 84 (as Master of the Berlin Ascension [?]).

P. van den Brinck, 'Fragments d’une personnalité : une série de dessins sur la Vie de saint Thomas et le volet d’un retable perdu avec l’Ascension du Christ', in Peindre à Rouen au XVIe siècle, F. Elsig (ed.), Milan 2017, p. 157 (as Master of the Aꦕntwerp 🔯Adoration).

This rarely depicted episode of the Annunciation to Saint Anne shows the moment when an angel delivers the news that Anne will conceive a baby called Mary. The colourful drapery, Italianate architecture and elongated limbs of the figures in this painting suggest it is by an artist closely associated with the Master of Amiens, and is linked stylistically to The Ascension of Christ, c. 1525, in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.¹ The angular drapery and Saint Anne's half-kneeling pose with long raised hands correlates with the figures in the Berlin painting, while the physiognomy of the angel and background clearly derives from Jan de Beer (c. 1475–1528), suggesting that this painting may date to as early as 1520. The influence of the Master of Amiens, who is thought to be Flemish, can also not be ignored and suggests that the Master of the Berlin Ascension most likely originated from Northern France and happened to be working in this region when the Master of Amiens was present.²

This panel can also be closely linked stylistically to a number of fragments that have been associated with the Master of the Antwerp Adoration and suggests they could have been part of a retable that was deconstructed in the early 19th century.³ Similarities can be drawn with these fragments and the panels in the High Altarpiece and Saint Catherine Altarpiece in Saint Martin's Church, Linnich,⁴ and also the The Adoration of the Magi at the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp.⁵

¹ Master of the Berlin Ascension, The Ascension of Christ (recto); Saint Martha and Saint Lazarus (verso, in semi-grisaille),📖 oil on oak panel, 74 x 84cm.,

² D. Ewing in ExtravagAnt! A Forgotten Chapter of Antwerp Painting, 1500-1530, P. van den Brink and M.P.J. Martens (eds), exh. cat., Antwerp 2005, p. 92.

³ Anonymous sale, ('The Property of a Lady'), London, Sotheby's, 8 December 2005, lo🍌t 210. An example of one of the fragments.

⁴ //www.st-martin-💟linnich.de/die-kirche/ausstattung/hochaltar

⁵ Master of the Antwerp Adoration, The Adoration of the Magi, 1519, 29 x 39 cm., .