9. Dutch and Flemish Paintings in Johann Valentin Prehn’s Miniature Cabinet
Julia Ellinghaus
Prehn’s Miniature Cabinet in the Historical Museum in Frankfurt is one of the most extraordinary 18th-century painting collections in the world. More than 800 small- and very small-sized paintings from almost every European school are assembled in 32 boxes which — in their original state — were foldable. The miniature paintings are symmetrically arranged in a compact manner, covering the inner sides of the boxes.1 The individual works are almost all done in oils on canvas, panel or copper and represent the period from late Gothic until around 1820. High-quality works — above all the famous Paradise Garden from an Upper Rhenish master of around 1410-1420, which has been on permanent loan to the Städel Museum since 1922 because of its value and art-historical relevance [1] — and works by famous masters are combined with copies of varying quality, curious fragments and in some cases the sole pictorial testimonies of little-known artists, to create a colourful and extremely personal gallery ‘en miniature’ [2]. The paintings were collected and arranged by Johann Valentin Prehn (1749–1829), probably the best confectioner or ‘pâtissier’ of his time in Frankfurt am Main. He ran a flourishing business in his house on the famous boulevard and shopping street, the ‘Zeil’.
In 2009, Stephan Kemperdick published a surprising new attribution. The depiction of Saint Joseph, once attributed to an old German master, then to the Master of the Utrecht Adoration (active 1510–1540), but since 1934 regarded as a forgery dating to the 19th century, turned out to be a (missing) part of the Prague Altar by Geertgen tot Sint Jans (c. 1455/65–1485/95) and his workshop [3].2 This discovery lead the Historisches Museum Frankfurt to start the compilation of a catalogue raisonné of the entire Miniature Cabinet including a detailed conservational examination of each of the 874 extant paintings.3 In May 2021, after more than ten years of work, this project was completed, culminating in the launch of a database with detailed catalogue entries for each painting, the publication of a catalogue with 100 selected items and comprehensive essays, and an exhibition on Johann Valentin Prehn and special topics in his collection.4 In addition, after a long period in the museum’s depot the Miniature Cabinet has been on permanent view again since 2012 and has its own room in the ‘Collector’s Museum’, where 13 collectors and donors from Frankfurt are presented with their collections [4].
In this contribution, I will first paint a picture of the collector, present a quick overview of his various art collections and address the provenance of his paintings. Furthermore, I will focus on the Dutch and Flemish paintings in the collection, including many new attribution, Prehn’s preference for specific genres, as well as the ratio of Dutch and Flemish paintings compared to those from Germany, Italy and France.
1
Master of the Paradise Garden of Frankfurt
Paradise garden, c. 1410-1420
panel (oak), tempera, oil paint 26.2 x 33.4 cm
Frankfurt am Main, Städel Museum, inv./cat.nr. HM 54
2
Diptych with paintings from the collection of Johann Valentin Prehn (1749-1821), section 11 (reconstruction), c. 1799-1821
panel, oil paint 93 x 130 cm
Frankfurt am Main, Historisches Museum Frankfurt
3
Geertgen tot Sint Jans
Saint Joseph, c. 1484-1500
Frankfurt am Main, Historisches Museum Frankfurt
4
Historisches Museum Frankfurt - Permanent exhibition – Collector’s Museum - Miniature Cabinet of Johann Valentin Prehn
© Historisches Museum Frankfurt, Photo: Horst Ziegenfusz
Notes
1 The three largest paintings measure 35 x 41 cm, comparable to a standard DIN/ISO A 3 page, while the smallest are the size of a thumbnail (ca. 2,4 x 2 cm). The (replicated) boxes measure 93 x 130 cm.
2 Kemperdick 2009; Frimmel 1900, p. 72. Frimmel 1908 p. 59. Holst 1934, p. 42.
3 The Miniature Cabinet was extended by Johann Valentin Prehn’s sons after his death; a handful of paintings were lost over time.
4 Cilleßen et al. 2021. On the Prehn collection online database: https://bildersammlung-prehn.de/de/prehn/start. All paintings from the Miniature Cabinet referred to in this article can be found with their catalogue entries (provided in PDF format) using the search button (enter artist’s name or inventory number). The virtual exhibition ‘Prehn’s Paradise of Paintings. A unique collection of images from the Age of Goethe‘ (20/05/2021 to 16/01/2022) can be entered here: https://historisches-museum-frankfurt.de/de/prehns-bilderparadies/online?language=en.