About the Work
In the sixteenth century Antwerp, a major trade metropolis, became one of north-western Europe’s leading art centres. Among its many painters’ workshops were a number of studios that worked closely with one another. For want of a better name, the respective artists are collectively known as the ‘Antwerp Mannerists’. One of their main representatives, the ‘Master of the von Groote Adoration’, was named after this work. Here, he depicted the ‘Adoration of the Magi’ in a wealth of detail, accompanying it with two Old Testament scenes that serve as a commentary.
About the Acquisition
Descended from a Baltic-Hamburg entrepreneurial family, Dagmar Westberg lived in Frankfurt am Main since the end of the war. Her great uncle Oskar Troplowitz, who led the Beiersdorf company to success, was already a great patron of the arts and bequeathed numerous pieces of art to the Kunsthalle Hamburg, including works by Renoir, Sisley, Picasso and Liebermann. Dagmar Westberg then continued this tradition and supported the Städel Museum for many years. The Dagmar Westberg Foundation, founded in 2000, has enabled important purchases for the Städel Prints and Drawings Collection to this day. In addition, it promotes art historical publications and activities, awards scholarships to young art historians and grants subsidies for restoration works at the Städel Art Institute. Even though especially our Prints and Drawings Collection benefits from the generous support of the Dagmar Westberg Foundation, the painting collections, however, have also been expanded in recent years with significant donations from this patron. In addition, the foundation enabled the research for and development of the exhibition “Titian and the Renaissance in Venice” (2019).
