Attributed to Christoph Paudiss

(Lower Saxony 1630–1666 Freising)
An old man holding a letter, with a cat on a ledge,
oil on canvas, 79.5 x 66 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private collection, France, until early 2018

Paudiss repeated this composition several times. A version on canvas was sold at Sotheby’s, London, 10 December 1986, as lot 96. A second version on panel was exhibited in Freising (Germany) in 2007 (see Christopher Paudiß 1630–1666 – Der bayerische Rembrandt?, exhibition catalogue, Diözesanmuseum, Freising 2007, pp. 288/89, no. 32). Paudiss’s composition was engraved by A. L. Krüger in 1778 (see W. Sumowski, Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler, vol. IV, Landau 1983, p. 2320, no. 1568).

Christoph Paudiss received his training in Rembrandt’s studio and was later referred to as the ‘Bavarian Rembrandt’. He worked in various cities in Europe such as Stuttgart in 1656, Prague and Dresden from 1659-1660 and Vienna and Salzburg. His last employment was as court painter to Archbishop Albrecht Sigmund of Freising. Today the Diözesanmuseum in Freising holds the biggest collection of this artist’s work, totalling fifteen paintings. He painted a variety of subjects including still lifes, game, everyday peasant scenes and portraits. All his pictures show the strong influence of his master Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn.