Fathers of Protestantism

Vanderkindere, from Belgium, has an interesting auction on 29 May 2019.

Lot 341 is an "Anonymous, German School, late 16th or early 17th century(?)" depiction of the Reformationists, estimated at 1,800 to 2,500 Euro.

While the original of this work is indeed German (see e.g. the ca. 1625-1650 version from the German Historical Museum in Berlin above), it is more likely that this copy is British and late 17th century.

It is probably based on the engraving by John Garrett from 1673 or later (image from the National Portrait Gallery). The NPG has all information on the different people on the painting, so I'll not repeat that information here.

This can be seen by the reduction of the number of figures at the bottom, and by the reversion of the direction of the image, but even more so by the English text on the table, which would be unlikely in a German work: "The candle is lighted / Wee cannot blow it out".

This image, with the added text, was very popular in late 17th century Britain, and is known from a number of engravings. Paintings from this version seem to be rare though, and a very interesting witness of this important period in English history. The value of this work is largely in that historical aspect, and not so much for the limited artistic value it had.

UPDATE: sold for 2,000 Euro.