Wednesday 2 March 2016

"Northern Netherlands, 16th century" looks more like a German painting

Koller, from Switzerland, sells in a very interesting auction (with some very unusual works) on 22 March 2016 a "Northern Netherlandish School, 16th century" Flagellation of Christ, estimated at 15,000 to 23,000 Euro.

The iconography was unknown to me, with the tormenters apparently trying to screw the crown of thorns into the head of Christ, but the image looked more German than Dutch, where the paintings are somewhat more rational and subdued in composition in general.

A very similar example is listed as German, late 15th century at the Walters Art Museum.

Another work with the same image comes from the Melk Altar, and is again a German work of the same period, this time by Jörg Breu the Elder and dated 1502.

Other works from the same period with a similar image are attributed to the Master of Attel (Christie's, a pair, sold for £422,000!) and to the Master of Cappenberg.

Finally, even Cranach the Elder has shown the same image.

The above ones all had a four-arm screw instead of the two-arm one in the work for sale, but that type can also be found in German art of the period, like in the above woodcut by Hans Schäufelein from 1507, which is in general closer to the work for sale (also with the kneeling man in the front).

Perhaps the closest example I could find was the work by the Master of the Pflock Altar from 1521, which has the exact same type of screw and otherwise also has enough similarities to show a common influence. It is not by the same author though.

Finally: I never realised it until now, but I suppose the "stick" carried by the man behind the Christ in the above work by Bosch is probably also a screw to tighten the crown of thorns. No idea if this is a commonly known element or my addition to the Bosch research, probably the former though!

None of the above shows the exact same thing as the work for sale (not only does it have a two-arm screw instead of the most common four-arm one, but it also has an upper register with a nun visiting a church (Loreto?)), but it seems clear that it is a work that sits firmly in the German tradition of ca. 1500, and doesn't fit so much in the Dutch tradition (despite the Bosch I have shown, and a few other works with similar elements like a Maarten van Heemskerck). As for the estimate, hard to say. It certainly is a noteworthy work, but Dutch works of the period are rarer and would probably be worth more than a German one.

UPDATE: Not sold.

UPDATE 2: on 16 March 2016 Lempertz sells another work with the same torture device.  This time it's a Flemish work of the 17th century, which is late for this iconography. It's estimated at 1,500 to 2,000 Euro.

And on 18 March one can buy (at another Koller auction) a German, ca. 1500 version with the same device (this time the two-arm version), as one of a pair of paintings together estimated at 3,300 Euro (which seems like a lot to me). Apparently this image isn't that rare, I just didn't notice it until now...

UPDATE 3: again for sale at Koller, with a much reduced estimate of 8,000 to 12,000 Swiss Francs, on 22 September 2017

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