Master of the Prodigal Son or Antoon Claissens? In any case, a partial copy after Bronzino

Ader, from France, sells on 24 June 2016 an "Antwerp School, follower of the Master of the Prodigal Son" Passing of the Red Sea, estimated at 3,000 to 5,000 Euro.

It was sold at Christie's New York in 1996 for $10,000 (!), and was then described as Circle of Antoon Claeissens. While the old attribution is listed at the Ader sale, the Christie's provenance isn't. It seems that giving proper provenance happens less and less at auctions, even when it is about a sale of 20 years ago (not some very recent one where they try to avoid price comparisons).

Whether it is by someone from the circle of Claeissens or the Master of the Prodigal Son, what apparently hasn't been noticed is that the work is at least in part copied from a work by Angelo Bronzino from ca. 1540 from the Palazzo Vecchio.

The lower right corner (or about half the painting) is clearly deroved straight from the Bronzino, but with a lot of alterations. It doesn't seem to be based on an engraving, but probably made after copies (made during an Italian trip?). It is interesting to see how the Italian work is adapted and how such Renaissance works influenced Flemish paintings.

The work is known from engravings though, like the above anonymous one (published by Hieronymus Cock and found at the Rijksmuseum). So it can't be ruled out that the influence came indirectly.

As a copy, it is harder to identify the artist; the composition can't be used to determine who may have painted it. The style is a bit more Master of the Prodigal Son than Claeissens, but I'll not risk a guess any further.It should be worth the estimate, but probably not more, unless you try to track the influence of Italian art on Flemish painting in the 16th century.

School of Bronzino

Neumeister, auction house from Munich, sells on 1 July 2015 a "Tuscany, mid 16th century" painting of a Holy Family with John the Baptist. A smallish oil on panel of 60 by 46 cm, it is estimated at 5,000 to 6,000 Euro.

The bad news for the seller is that the same painting was bought in Munich in July 2008 for 67,500 Euro (against the same estimate of 6,000 Euro, described as Italian School, 16th century).

Presumably the buyer (and at least one other bidder) thought it to be the work of a well-known painter and worth a lot more. Equally presumably, it turned out to be a bad gamble, and here we are again now.

So, who was the presumed master behind this picture? My money is on Bronzino, as this painting shares some clear characteristics with similar works by Bronzino.

On the one hand, we have this one from the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. The Saint John is a reverse image of the one for sale, and the other figures are remarkably similar though in different positions.

Comparing the painting with another Holy Family by Bronzino (this time from the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC) also shows clear similarities, in style, facetype, clothing. But the style of painting is clearly different, with the one for sale looking unfinished, as if it lacks a final layer. The real Bronzinos are very statuesque, sculpted figures, while the one for sale is more a drawn figure.

It is a good painting, but what the exact relation is to Bronzino remains unclear. Why they don't sell it as "School of" or "Circle of Bronzino" is not really clear though. The estimate seems about right, unless you believe it is closer to Bronzino after all. UPDATE: sold for 17,000 Euro, way above estimate but still way below what was paid for it previously...