a Di s p u t e D Dr aw i ng By h a n s B o c k s Be r g e r t h e e l De r i n B u Da pe s t
szilvia
BoDnár
The Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest preserves a sixteenthcentury German drawing with a composition on both sides that deserves distinguished notice for its contemporary inscription in the top right corner of the recto: “Dis hatt der alt Mais... / Hans Poxperger von / Saltzburg gerissen” [This was drawn by the old master, Hans Poxperger of Salzburg].1 The study, thus far only referred to in literature without illustration, was executed in pen and black ink, has been irregularly trimmed, and damaged at the edges. The scenes on both sides are difficult to discern at first sight. The recto shows a group of three female and two male figures in the open air; the women are wearing clothes cling-
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hans BocksBer ger the elDer, the golDen age, B u D a p e s t, M u s e u M o f f i n e a r t s
ing to their bodies, while the men are naked (fig. 1). One man leans against a tree with his right arm, placing his left hand on a large vessel or a tree stump, the other is leaning forward while one of the women is placing a wreath on his head. The woman lying in the middle foreground gently touches the face of the figure next to her, and 163