Self-portrait with Skull, Karel Slabbaert
Karel Slabbaert
Self-portrait with Skull
DE
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Karel Slabbaert

Self-portrait with Skull, ca. 1645


Dimensions
32.5 x 25.3 cm
Physical Description
Oil on canvas
Inventory Number
445
Acquisition
Acquired in 1816 with the founder’s bequest
Status
On display, 2nd upper level, Old Masters, room 1

Texts

About the Acquisition

In March 1815, the Frankfurt businessman and banker Johann Friedrich Städel bequeathed his entire fortune and art collection to a foundation which was to be named after him: the 'Städelsches Kunstinstitut'. However, he also dedicated the foundation to the citizens of Frankfurt immaterially, wishing it to be an "adornment and of practical use" to Frankfurt's citizenry. He was thus the first ordinary citizen in the German-speaking region to found a public art museum: the present-day Städel Museum. When he died, his collection comprised 476 paintings, some 4,600 drawings, almost 10,000 printed graphics and valuable books.

Work Data

Basic Information

Title
Self-portrait with Skull
Painter
Period Produced
School
Object Type
Physical Description
Oil on canvas
Material
Technique

Property and Acquisition

Institution
Departement
Collection
Creditline
Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main
Picture Copyright
Public Domain
Acquisition
Acquired in 1816 with the founder’s bequest

Work Content

Motifs and References

Iconclass

Primary
  • 61B2(SLABBAERT, Karl)11(+54) historical person (SLABBAERT, Karl) - historical person (SLABBAERT, Karl) portrayed alone (+ three-quarter length portrait)
  • 48C513 portrait, self-portrait of painter
  • 31A235 sitting figure
  • 31A2518 hand on the hip
Secondary

Research and Discussion

Provenance

Object History
...
Johann Friedrich Städel (1728–1816), Frankfurt am Main
Nachlass Johann Friedrich Städel, 1816.

Information

Since 2001, the Städel Museum has systematically been researching the provenance of all objects that were acquired during the National Socialist period, or that changed owners or could have changed owners during those years. The basis for this research is the “Washington Declaration”, also known as the “Washington Conference Principles”, formulated at the 1998 “Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets” and the subsequent “Joint Declaration”.

The provenance information is based on the sources researched at the time they were published digitally. However, this information can change at any time when new sources are discovered. Provenance research is therefore a continuous process and one that is updated at regular intervals.

Ideally, the provenance information documents an object’s origins from the time it was created until the date when it found its way into the collection. It contains the following details, provided they are known:

  • the type of acquisition and/or the way the object changed hands
  • the owner's name and place of residence
  • the date on which it changed hands

The successive ownership records are separated from each other by a semicolon.

Gaps in the record of a provenance are indicated by the placeholder “…”. Unsupported information is listed in square brackets.

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Last update

25.04.2024