Monday 18 September 2017

16th c. "Adoration of the Shepherds": Italian or Flemish?

Carlo Bonte, from Belgium, sells on 27 September 2017 a "16th century" Adoration of the Shepherds, estimated at 3,000 to 5,000 Euro.


I couldn't find an exact match for the composition so far, even though it reminds me of works by Jacopo Bassano. But in general the work looks like a Flemish interpretation of Italian examples.

The shepherd on the far left, for example, can also be found on Italian works, e.g. here from an "Italy, mid 16th century" anonymous work sold at La Suite Subastas.

On the Flemish side, it reminds me more in general of the work of e.g. Marten de Vos, like in the above engraving.

But like I said, I couldn't find a more closely related painting or engraving, so while it seems likely that this painting isn't an original composition but a copy of one or more older works (which would also explain the difference in quality between some parts of the work), I can not exactly pinpoint a time or place of origin.

The estimate seems about right though, as it is a pleasing work with enough quality to entice bidders.

UPDATE 19/09/2017: strangely enough, I found the figure of the "Italian" painting again, but now on an engraving after Maerten de Vos (by Sadeler), who I had already linked to the composition above! The Rijksmuseum led me to this engraving from ca. 1582. So while this doesn't really help us for the current painting, at least we can change the "Italian" painting from La Suite Subastas to "After Marten de Vos"...

UPDATE 20/09/2017: on Twitter,  AuctionRadar kindly showed another engraving after Maerten de Vos which contained other figures identical or very close to ones in this painting. The bowing shepherd holding his hat, some of the angels, and the figure of Joseph clearly are derived from this engraving (or from the painting at the origin of it). While I still haven't found all elements from the painting, it seems obvious that it should be considered the work of a Follower of Maerten de Vos.

3 comments:

  1. Italian. Early Ludovico/Annibale/Agostino? Carracci? Does remind me of early frescos the three did at Palazzo Magnani Reggio.

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  2. Those are some spectacular noses in the painting :- )

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  3. Oops, this post shouldn't have been posted yet :-) I'll post the complete post this evening

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