Margarethe Vöhlin, Wife of Hans Roth [reverse]

Bernhard Strigel's reverse of a portrait panel depicting Margarethe Vöhlin, painted around 1527, is the verso of a double-sided portrait panel — Strigel produced several such works where the reverse carries a painted image related to the principal portrait on the obverse. Strigel was court painter to Emperor Maximilian I and the leading painter of Memmingen, producing portraits that documented the Swabian elite with sharp, precise likenesses reflecting his formation in the local tradition of the Master of the Memmingen Altarpiece. The Vöhlin family were prominent members of the Augsburg and Swabian merchant aristocracy, and a portrait panel with painted reverse represents a particularly ambitious commission — likely a memorial or commemorative piece requiring the additional painted surface. The National Gallery of Art in Washington holds several Strigel works as part of its German Renaissance collection, providing comparative context for his portrait practice. Margarethe Vöhlin's portrait documents the world of the prosperous Swabian merchant class whose commissions sustained Strigel's career alongside his more prestigious connections with the imperial court.

The panel shows Strigel's careful late technique with the precise rendering of costume and physiognomy characteristic of his Swabian portrait practice.