Single portrait of Sebald Pfintzing

General information
Original location Nuremberg? (where the sitter lived)
Current location Nuremberg, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, inv.no. gnmp18345-0323
Göttingen, Kunstsammlung der Universität Göttingen
Artist Georg Fennitzer (signed G. Fennitzer f.)
Date between 1670 and 1700 (based on artist; probably a copy after an older original painting from between 1435 and 1489)
Material Engraving
Dimensions 14,3 x 9,2 cm
Visual elements
Short description Portrait of a bearded man wearing a hat, portrayed half-length, turned slightly to the right. Above the portrait signs of accolades.
Depicted pilgrim
Personal information
Name Sebald (II.) Pfinzing
Social status / profession Member of the influential patrician family Pfinzing from Nuremberg. Many members of the family were actively involved in politics and trade.
Text Under the portrait: Sebald Pfintzing // Secundus Ritter, Keys. Frid. III Rath. // Denat. 1489 / G. fenitzer f.
Pilgrimages
Year of pilgrimage 1435 and/or 1479-80 (see remarks)
Attributes Jerusalem pilgrimage Above the portrait: Jerusalem cross
Additional information
Remarks The Jerusalem cross is depicted with three other symbols, which depict other acquired accolades.
The year of pilgrimage of Sebald Rieter is a bit unclear. Both the travel reports of Hans Lochner (1435) and Hans Tucher/Sebald Rieter (1479-80) mention a Sebald Pfinzing as a travel companion. Although there have been more persons with the name Sebald Rieter, in both these cases it can only be Sebald II, as Sebald I. died in 1431, and Sebald III. was not yet born in 1480. In my opinion, 1435 seems to be the most likely, as pilgrims often seem to have been relatively young when they made the pilgrimage, and since Sebald's mother died in 1416, he must have been in his twenties in 1435. It is, however, also possible that he made the pilgrimage twice.
Literature
  • Mortzfeld, Peter, Katalog der graphischen Porträts in der Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel 1500-1850. Reihe A, Die Porträtsammlung (Munich 1986), no. 16392
  • Sors, Anne-Katrin (ed.), Die Englische Manier. Mezzotinto als Medium druckgrafischer Reproduktion und Innovation (Göttingen 2014), p. 62, fig. 21
Back to top
Disclaimer:
2012: web design by Charlotte Dikken and Bart Holterman (UU). This website was tested and works on Internet Explorer, Opera and Firefox and is best viewed on a fully maximized screen. Some of the features on this site use JavaScript.
This page was last updated on: .