"Creation of the Animals", the sequel

A few months ago I posted about a "Creation of the Animals" for sale at Hampel (Germany), for which I had found another version in the Musée Calvet in France.

I just realised that yet another version of the same work can be found in Antwerp, in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts. It was only gifted to the Museum after the date of my full catalogue, and the Museum is closed for serious renovations (reopens 2017), so that may excuse why I didn't know about it, but still it feels a bit stupid!

The Antwerp version lacks most of the fallen angels, but is otherwise nearly identical. The Hampel version is only 75 by 62 cm though, while the Antwerp one is 133 by 121 cm. It is attributed to an "Anonymous Flemish Master, 16th century, Joachim Patinir, Simone de Myle, Herri met de Bles". The latter three names may indicate an environment they place it in. I hadn't heard of Simone de Myle yet

Searching him brings me to yet another smaller (73 by 63cm) version, this time attributed to "Circle of Simon de Myle" and in much worse condition, which sold at Aguttes in France in 2011 for 4,000 Euro.

Simon de Myle is basically known from one work, a very good "Noach's Ark" which is indeed similar in style, but less naive, more correct in a Dürer-like style (the animals!). Still, we are getting closer to putting a name to this work, and we now have four versions of it, which gets interesting. This de Myle work, by the way, sold at Sotheby's in 2011 for more than 1 million Euros! Just imagine that you bought the Hampel one for 8,000 Euro and would be able to prove that it is by De Myle...

The RKD lists one other work by De Myle, but it is quite different and much further away from the Creation of the Animals.