Company of Music-Makers, ca. 1633

About the Acquisition

In 1927 the Frankfurter banker Hugo Kessler (1856–1929) stipulated by will that the Städel Museum was to receive his collection of artworks upon the death of his sister Anna Maria Laetitia Kessler (1863–1934). All in all, the collection comprised forty-two predominantly Baroque paintings. However, Kessler also revered younger artists, such as Carl Spitzweg and Carl Friedrich Lessing, as well as Wilhelm Busch, a personal acquaintance. In the spring of 1936 the Städel presented an exhibition of the entire Kessler-Kolligs bequest – Kolligs being the maiden name of Kessler’s mother.