Dietricy Circle – Pair Of Character Heads – 18th-century Germany

Circle of Christian Wilhelm Dietrich, known as Dietricy (1712–1774)
Pair of character heads
18th-century German school

Pair of character heads depicting two bearded men, painted in oil on wooden panels.

Depicted as a pair, the two figures have highly individualized features: one depicts an elderly man with graying hair and beard, his gaze raised; the other a dark-haired man with a full beard, turning his gaze to the side.

The expressive rendering of the faces, the chiaroscuro effects, and the intimate nature of the compositions are part of the tradition of character heads developed in the 18th century in the wake of 17th-century Dutch painting, particularly within the circle of Christian Wilhelm Dietrich, known as Dietricy.

Born in Weimar in 1712 and died in Dresden in 1774, Dietricy was a painter and engraver at the Saxon court. Trained first by his father, Johann Georg Dietrich, and then by the landscape painter Alexander Thiele in Dresden, he developed a particularly eclectic body of work, informed by his study of the old masters, particularly those of the Dutch and Flemish schools.

Both paintings are set in beautiful antique carved wooden frames, embellished with a gilded inner border. Together, they form a particularly decorative pair.

Provenance:
Former private collection of Horst Schach, Karlsruhe, Germany.

Dimensions of the paintings:
– 22.3 × 17.6 cm
– 23 × 17.2 cm

Condition:
Good overall condition considering the age of the works. The panel depicting the elderly man has an long-standing vertical crack, visible in the photographs, which does not significantly affect the viewing of the work. Some wear, crazing, and minor age-related changes are present. The frames also show some marks and minor signs of wear.

The photographs are an integral part of the description.

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