Versailles Enchères, French auction house, sells on 4 October 2015 a "Flemish School, 17th century, follower of Jacob de Backer" Saint Michael and the Dragon, an oil on canvas of 63 by 52 cm estimated at 800 to 1,000 Euro.
It is a straight copy of a well-known painting by Giuseppe Cesari, the Cavaliero d'Arpino (1568-1640), best known for his pupil Caravaggio but a seriously good painter in his own right. The best-known version of this painting can be found in
Glasgow and is an oil on copper of 58 by 42 cm. Other versions are known to exist. This one for sale, however, is probably not by Cesari, but a good copy, which indeed has some similarities to the style of De Backer (e.g. his "Last Judgment"). Considering that De Backer died before Cesari painted this work, it seems unlikely that the work for sale is really by De Backer though (unless, intriguing thought, the Cesari is a copy after the work for sale here :-) ).
Even as an anonymous and hard-to-place copy, it is a nice, attractive work, and should be worth more than the estimate, closer to 2,000 Euro perhaps.
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