Contact gallery for price		Christian Stöcklin Geneva 1741 - 1795 Frankfurt A Renaissance Church Interior Oil on panel 6 x 7 inches (15 x 18 cm) Signed: Stocklin Provenance: Private Collection, Switzerland There is little biographical data known of Christian Stöcklin except that he worked primarily in Frankfurt after leaving his native Switzerland.  His œuvre was almost exclusively of church interiors, some of which are kept in German museums, including the Gemäldegalerie of Dresden.   Stöcklin followed the tradition established in the seventeenth century by Pieter Neefs and in spite of the different periods, Stöcklin's works have mistakenly been attributed to Neefs. Our composition is charming in its neat and precise presentation, bathed in a bright and clear light. The marble statue of a female saint in an architectural niche at the left foreground greets the viewer before his eye is led through the space between the tiled floors and the design of the ceiling echoed above.  It is conceivable that the statute may represent St. Helena who was an empress and with her son, Constantine the Great, ruled over Constantinople.  St. Helena is always depicted as elegantly dressed, wearing a crown or other headdress and holding a scepter, as is the statute of a saint in our painting.  There is marked influence of the seventeenth century Flemish trends in architectural painting, including the arches, columns and capitals that are crisply executed and exquisitely ornamented.  There are tiny figures walking toward the central naive, one of whom is cloaked in red, brightening with a flash of color, the somber and spiritual space.