(Zizers, ca. 1575-after 1621 in Heidelberg) Triumphal procession of Neptune and Amphitrite, signed Sebastian Götz, pen and black ink, grey wash, on laid paper, 13,5 x 28 cm, repaired losses, mounted, framed, (Sch)

Provenance:
Private collection, Austria.

The artist Sebastian Götz came from Zizers in Switzerland and was active as a sculptor and draughtsman between the late 1580s and the early 1620s. Götz was first mentioned in Munich in 1589 where he executed the statues of princes at the Munich court of Duke Maximilian for the court church St. Michael and for the Imperial staircase at the Wilhelminian fortress (destroyed). In 1604 Götz entered the service of Frederic IV. and until 1607 decorated the court façade of Frederic’s building within the complex of Heidelberg castle. In the following years Götz went to Aschaffenburg, where he may have been active for the new construction of Johannisburg castle. In 1614 he received further assignments from Heidelberg, where he executed the marble tomb for Frederic IV. (destroyed in 1693). Afterwards he participated in the erection of Elisabeth gate in the castle’s garden und executed the sculptures of Ludwig V. and Frederic V. In 1621 Götz was mentioned in Heidelberg for the last time. Drawn copies after Christoph Schwarz and Frederic Sustris are dated “1595” and “1598” and prove Götz’s emergence as a draughtsman. The signed drawings also prove the artist’s activity in Munich and his orientation towards Late Mannerism. The Museum Narodowe in the National Museum in Warszaw preserves two sheets with studies for two statues representing a couple of donors. The National Museum in Warszaw keeps the study for „Abraham and Isaac on their way to the place of sacrifice” which is comparable with the present drawing in regard of its style and in the handwriting of the signature.