Terracotta statuette depicting Dawn by Johan Gregor Van der Schardt, Italy, ca. 1560 to 1565.

A terracotta statuette representing the personification of dawn as a reclining female figure. The body rests on a dais supported by the right elbow, the left leg is raised at the knee. The head, the left arm and the lower part of the right leg of the figure are missing. The figure has a reddish surface finish.

Thermolouminescence testing has revealed that the statuettes were fired between about 1525 and 1630. This terracotta, together with A.6-1938 comes from the famous collection of Paul von Praun (1548-1616) a wealthy silk merchant from Nuremberg and are mentioned in his will of 1592. The works passed into the hands of Julius Haehnel in 1842. Purchased as the work of Michaelangelo by Dr Heyer after 1924 the statuettes were purchased together with A.6-1938 by the V&A through Christie's in 1938.

Historical significance: Since the beginning of the twentieth century, opinions have been divided on whether the terracottas are to be considered originals by Michelangelo or sixteenth century copies after Michelangelo. Pope-Hennessy believed them to be copies, but they were convincingly attributed to the Netherlandish artist Johan Gregor Van der Schardt by Larson in 1984. Larson notes evidence of Schardt's style in Night's elongated neck, undulating hair and high set breasts which are typical of his style.

Van der Schardt Born in Nijmegen, (?)1530–31; died (?) Nuremberg, after 1581
A Netherlandish sculptor whom both Vasari and Guicciardini mention as being among the praiseworthy sculptors of the day. He travelled to Italy during the 1560s, spending some years in Rome and probably visiting Florence, studying and copying masterpieces of antiquity and the Renaissance. From Rome he travelled to the Venetian territories and visited Bologna. In 1569 he entered the service of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II (reg 1564–76) in Vienna. His only known signed work, a bronze statuette of Mercury (?1569; Stockholm, Nmus.), strongly influenced by his Italian training, was probably produced as a presentation piece for the Emperor.

In the 1570s Schardt was often in Nuremberg. In the summer of 1570 he produced a life-size portrait bust in terracotta of the Nuremberg merchant and art collector Willibald Imhoff (Berlin, Bodesmus.). On the Emperor’s recommendation, Schardt travelled to Italy in the summer of 1571, but he was again in Nuremberg in the following years, and a tondo portrait of him (1573; Trieste, Mus. Stor. Castello di Miramare) was executed by Nicolas Neufchatel, who lived in Nuremberg.

After Maximilian II’s death in 1576, Schardt apparently worked at the Danish court; the earliest documentary evidence dates from spring 1577. Of his work in Denmark, bronze busts of Frederick II, King of Denmark and his wife, Sophia of Mecklenburg, Queen of Denmark (?1578–9; both Copenhagen, Rosenborg Slott), are regarded as securely attributed. In 1579 Schardt returned to Nuremberg, where Hans Hofmann painted his portrait (untraced) in 1581. Schardt’s terracotta portrait bust of Anna Imhoff (1581; Berlin, Bodemus.), dating from this time, was perhaps intended as a pendant to the bust of her husband, Willibald Imhoff (1570; Berlin, Bodemus.). The Imhoff busts are among Schardt’s most impressive works, showing very detailed treatment of the faces and an extremely accurate likeness. Although after 1581 there is no documentary information on Schardt, research (Honnens de Lichtenberg) suggests that he worked in Denmark again in the 1580s and died there in the early 1590s.

The two statuettes are copies after two of the four marble statues representing the times of day carved by Michelangelo for the Medici Chapel in the church of San Lorenzo in Florence (1524-1534). Both Dawn and Night are represented by reclining female figures, Night is identified by a by a mask under her left shoulder and an owl perched beneath her raised left leg. The marble originals were paired with reclining male figures representing Dusk and Day. The staues of the Medici chapel were were among the most influential sculptural works of the Renaissance and were widely copied. Niccolo Tribolo also created terracotta replicas, Pietro da Barga cast small bronze reproductions for the studiolo of the the Florentine painter Jacopo Zucchi and the sculptor Ridolfo Sirigatti had life sized copies.

Paul von Praun born Nuremberg, 23 October 1548; died Bologna, 18 July 1616. Von Praun was a German merchant, collector and patron, active in Italy. He spent his youth largely in Nuremberg. In his own words, he nurtured ‘a special love for [art] from his early days’. On completing his education, he entered his family’s business, which had had an agency in Bologna since the mid-15th century. In Von Praun’s day commercial trading relations with Italy were at their height, and he spent his youth travelling between Italy and Nuremberg, meanwhile indulging his passion for collecting art works with the financial support of his father. Von Praun's collection was of such importance that the Habsburg Emperor Rudolf II (1552-1612) tried to buy some of the pieces in 1597. After his father’s death in 1578, Praun lived in Nuremberg, where he had the opportunity to buy works from the painter Hans Hoffmann and the sculptor Johann Gregor van der Schardt. At the end of the century he finally settled down in Bologna, where he lived until his death.

Shortly after his death his brother Jakob arranged for the return of the collection, which had become known as the "Praunsche Kabinett", to Nuremberg and in 1616 made the first handwritten inventory. The inventory lists both A.5-1938 and A.6-1938 as works by Johan Gregor Van Der Schardt. A second inventory followed in 1719, but the first printed description of the collection was prepared and published in Nuremberg by Christoph Gottlieb von Murr in 1797. Murr divided the works of art into the following categories: paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, coins, gems, precious stones, natural history specimens, curiosities and books. Fine art was, however, the core of the collection. Only a few paintings and sculptures are now identified as original works by Albrecht Dürer, Jacopo de’ Barbari, Hans Hoffmann, Gregor van der Schardt, Peter Flötner and Giambologna, the greater part of the collection consisting of copies after famous works. Outstanding among the drawings were the 400 or so by Italian masters. His collection of prints consisted of c. 5000 items, and as well as work by German and Italian artists included the complete engravings of Dürer.A.5-1938 and A.6-1938 appear in the 1797 inventory, however Murr attributes them to Michelangelo.

Von Praun’s collection remained in the possession of his family until 1801, when it was sold to the Nuremberg art dealer Johann Friedrich Frauenholz. It is now widely dispersed, a large group being preserved in the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest.

This small terracotta statuette has a companion that represents Night (inv. no. A.6-1938). They are both copies after two of the four marble statues representing the Times of the Day that Michelangelo carved for the Medici chapel in the church of San Lorenzo in Florence. He carved the marbles between 1524 and 1534. Both Dawn and Night are represented by reclining female figures. Night is identified by the mask under her left shoulder and the owl that peers out from under her raised left leg. The marble originals were paired with reclining male figures, representing Dusk and Day respectively. Since about 1900, opinions have been divided on whether the terracottas are originals by Michelangelo or 16th-century copies after Michelangelo's marble statues. The statues of the Medici chapel were among the most influential sculptural works of the Renaissance and were widely copied. In 1984, however, it was convincingly argued that the terracottas were made by the Netherlandish artist Johan Gregor van der Schardt. Although copied after Michelangelo's marble statues, the two models show Schardt's style. The elongated neck, undulating hair and high-set breasts of Night are typical of his modelling.

A.5-1938