My favourite: Tobias Stimmer, The Painter and the Muse

The Kunstmuseum Basel’s collections comprise ca. 4,000 paintings, sculptures, videos, and works of installation art, as well as the ca. 300,000 drawings and prints from seven centuries held by the Kupferstichkabinett. And around 200 people work at the Kunstmuseum Basel in a wide variety of professions - full-time, part-time, on an hourly basis. Some of them present their favourite works from the collection here.

1. Name and role at the Kunstmuseum Basel?
Ariane Mensger, Curator Kupferstichkabinett (Department of Prints and Drawings)

2. Job description
I am responsible for the drawings and prints of the 15th to 18th century. Since these works are very sensitive to light, we cannot show them permanently in the galleries. In order to share our treasures and knowledge with the public, we organize guided tours and exhibitions. It is always fascinating to see how these centuries-old works can still touch us deeply today, stimulate the imagination and provide unexpected insights.

3. Ma favourite?
Tobias Stimmer's The Painter and the Muse – Allegory of painting from around 1580.

4. Why?
Even today it is not yet known what the drawing actually represents. It shows the encounter of a painter with an enigmatic female figure. In the middle of the movement he turns to the seductive appearance. Is it the inspiration that makes him pause? Or is it his bride that keeps him from his work? The ambiguity of the situation is congenially reflected in the fleeting and rapid strokes, which are set with a brush in black and white on the red-primed paper.

Credit: Tobias Stimmer, The Painter and the Muse – Allegory of Painting, around 1580. Brush in black, heightened with white, on red-brown primed paper, 40.1 x 31.3 cm. Kunstmuseum Basel, Kupferstichkabinett, Museum Faesch