Marriage contract

Mercier, from France, sells on 26 June 2016 a "Flemish School, 17th century" Marriage contract, a large canvas (74 by 132cm) estimated at 3,000 to 4,000 Euro. The site from Mercier seems to be down, so I linked it to interenchères (where the link doesn't work any longer after the auction has finished, which is annoying).

It is a good example of a typical Flemish subject, and the central element is close to a work by Marten van Cleve (1527-1581) sold at Sotheby's in 2015 for £185,000. Before a cloth or tapestry, the bride (crowned) is seated between two other women, with on the left of them (from our point of view that is) a man who is presumably an official, as he seems to be in charge of the marriage contract. Meanwhile people from the village are bringing gifts for the new couple, and a bagpipe player brings a festive note.

The same event can be seen in Pieter Bruegel's "Peasant Wedding" and "The wedding dance", but in those cases the wedding of the title is more or less hidden in the background. And of course when the weather is bad, you party indoors! In the Brueghel paintings, something hangs above the head of the bride, the significance of this is not clear to me though. The Brueghel the Younger work at the bottom is again closer to the Van Cleve.

Note also how similar elements return in Flemish paintings of the marriage at Cana; the bride, crowned (and sometimes with things suspended above her head) is seated in front of a tapestry or the like, flanked by two elder women. An example by Ambrosius Francken I is shown here, but e.g. Marten van Cleve has done the same.

The work for sale (which may be late 16th century instead of 17th century) is a fairly attractive work but a far cry from the works of someone like Van Cleve or of course Bruegel. However, historically it is very interesting as a depiction of a major day in the lives of everyday people and villages.

Note that Sotheby's has two further village marriages by Marten van Cleve in its upcoming Old Masters' sale. The first one seems to be less well-painted than the Cleve shown above, I would list it as a Follower instead. The age of the boards the work is painted on suggests that it is contemporary to Cleve though, so either it is by him but has lost some details over the ages (overcleaning), or it just is a lesser work. The second one shows an image from later in the feast, not really comparable anymore to the early stage of the wedding shown in the work for sale. Both are estimated at £100,000 though, the one I highlight is a bit cheaper.

UPDATE: the Mercier work is now (26 June 2017) again for sale at Millon instead, with a somewhat lower estimate of 2,000 to 3,000 Euro, so I guess it didn't sell last year.