Saturday, 4 April 2015

Ecce Homo and Mater Dolorosa


At Gestas Carrère in Pau, they sell on 25 April 2015 a 17th century Dutch "Ecce Homo and Mater Dolorosa" without estimation, sized 64 by 92 cm (and with a Latin inscription on the frame).

UPDATE: it has now been re-catalogued as "Follower of Quentin Matsys (1466-1530)" with an estimate of 4,000 to 5,000 Euro. If my identification of the Mary as being based on a Titian is correct, then it should be dated later than that... END OF UPDATE

It's an old Flemish type of painting, going back at least to the end of the 15th century; this one is a bit unusual in that it has more attributes of the suffering of Christ added, including the cock (of Saint Peter fame). It is reasonably well painted, although it has more of a coloured drawing than of a real painting; this may partly be due to condition, it looks to be over-cleaned, with all varnish being removed. Perhaps it's just a poor photo.

The above, an anonymous work from ca. 1475, is the oldest and most simple example I could easily find.
Closer to the one for sale, certainly in the Mary, is the above, attributed (incorrectly, I think) to Hugo van der Goes and kept in the Museo de Santa Cruz in Toledo.


A lost painting by Dirk Bouts also has the same composition (I would expect the two panels to be switched though, Mary should look at Christ, not away from him surely?).


Strangely, the Mater Dolorosa, although in the vein of these older examples, seems most closely based on a Mater Dolorosa by Titian, now in the Prado. The face of Christ also more closely resembles Titian than any Flemish example of the period.

I would place the painting for sale in the late 16th century, not in the 17th, and in Flanders instead of the Netherlands. It seems to be one of the latest examples of this type, and one of the most elaborate (or anecdotical).  Should be worth a few thousand Euros.

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