There are stories in books, films and sometimes in reality where chance or fate and sometimes detective work bring separated people back together.
In the Bavarian National Museum in Munich, under the title “Golden Passion” tells such a story. Here, in a slightly modified version, there was a criminal investigation in the background, which in this case brought together again not people, but human figures, i.e. three sculptures. They all come from Georg Petel, who was the first and one was one of the most important German Baroque sculptors. The bronzes are 400 years old. And they were probably separated for most of that time. That means: The central figure of Christ, modeled by Georg Petel and cast in bronze, has been in the National Museum since 1949. The The other two, a “repentant” designed by Petel and an “unrepentant thief” (outdated for “criminal”) have been in the Bode Museum in Berlin since 1927.
What we know: They were all purchased in the Munich art market. But in a different time and place. Now the three figures hanging on crosses are reunited for the duration of the exhibition, which travels from Munich to Berlin. There are also just over a dozen other exhibits, including other works by Petel as well as sculptures, a painting and graphics by contemporaries.
These include loans from Brussels, the Alte Pinakothek and the State Graphic Collection in Munich as well as the Weilheim City Museum. And then there is a most impressive Petels ivory crucifix from a French private collection. They have all been brought together to tell the stories behind the crucifixion group. There is also a film that documents the production technology of the bronzes in the form of computer tomographic images. And then there are the technical results of the multi-year research project that preceded the exhibition. These show that the figures are very similar in terms of scale, condition, gilding, wall thickness and material.
So the mystery solved? The Baroque expert at the National Museum Jens Burk came to the conclusion in 2019 that there was or could be one at all. He knew: There are the “thieves” from Petel in Berlin. But: The Christ was missing. Inspired by this, he took a closer look at the Christ figure stored in the depot in Munich and asked himself: Could this perhaps be the Christ missing in Berlin? That was “the beginning of a difficult project,” as Burk said during a tour of the exhibition a few days ago. And also the beginning of a “beautiful collaboration”. In addition to the exhibition, this also led to a publication of the same name that went into more depth about the whole thing.
The first thing you notice in the small but fine exhibition is that there are three crucifixion groups. Once the reunited, fire-gilded original. Then a hardwood copy by an unknown artist from the second half of the 17th century, which comes from the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels. And then a copper alloy copy by an unknown artist from the end of the 17th century. On loan from the Weilheim City Museum. Anyone who looks here with a criminal eye will discover: the Christ figures are all different. In addition, the arms of the thief figures are partially twisted.
The explanation? Well, according to Jens Burk, the cast models made for the originals were probably already traveling separately back then. And so the copyists probably saw casts of the thieves somewhere, but not Petl’s Christ. That is why, in contrast to Petl’s original, the copper alloy group does not have a living, but dead Christ at the center. The hardwood Christ is depicted alive, but otherwise bears little resemblance to Petel’s. The thieves made of hardwood appear expressively designed. While the faces of those made of copper are expressionless. But these are all detective details.
What the copies show, in any case, is how popular Petel’s works were during his lifetime. But they are also truly great art, as shown, in addition to the crucifixion, by the above-mentioned crucifix from France and the “Flagging of Christ”, “Hercules” and “Saint Sebastian” from the National Museum. The additional engravings and drawings illustrate how depictions of Christ by Michelangelo and Rubens influenced Petel. And an oil portrait of Petel created by Anthonis van Dyck proves the friendship between the two. They met when Petel, who was born in Weilheim in 1601 or 1602, was traveling in the Netherlands, France and Italy. From 1625 onwards he worked in Augsburg, where he died much too early in 1634 as a highly respected artist.
Golden Passion, until June 30th, Bavarian National Museum, Prinzregentenstrasse 3, www.bayerisches-nationalmuseum.de