Aert Mytens

Aert Mytens is a bit of a mystery. Not that many paintings by him are known, most of them apparently still in their original Italian churches. He lived from about 1541 to about 1602, the period between the last Early Netherlandish painters like Brueghel and the final great period of Flemish painting with Rubens, Van Dyck c.s. Following Jan Gossaert, the first great Flemish painter who focused mainly on Italy, Mytens studied and worked mostly in Italy. He was the first of a whole series of Mytenses who became famous painters.

But Aert Mytens rarely appears in auction, and when he does, he doesn't fetch a lot of money, despite the clear qualities of his work. I could find one work, a putto playing the lyre, that was attributed to him which sold in Vienna in 2007 for 12,000 Euro. And that's it...

And then the current painting. Now for sale at Bonham's (17 February) for only 2,000 to 2,700 Euro, and attributed to a "Follower of Aert Mytens", it (or a very, very similar one) was for sale in Venice in 2008, and in Genova in late 2013. Both were sold as "Aert Mytens", not Follower of or anything else, but I haven't been able to find the result these made. Looking closely at the Wannenes sale in Genova, I can see the exact same damage to the painting (small things, e.g. in the rocks to the left of her shoulder), so it clearly is the very same painting that is now, a year later, again for sale. No longer considered an original Mytens, the estimate is lowered. But looking at it closely, it is a very, very good picture, which looks original to me (based solely on what I can see online). Things like the rocks on the left, and the hand to the right of her head (with the beshadowed fingers) are very nicely done, and if not by Mytens then at least done by a very skilled painter. I don't think I have seen any 16th century Flemish painting of this quality and size for an estimate below $10,000, so this one, even if not by Mytens, is very cheap. Perhaps because Mytens isn't well-known enough, but then he probably needs a revival. For a museum like the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp, which doesn't have an Aert Mytens yet (only a Jan Mytens), this may be their best chance to fill that gap for a bargain price.

ADDENDUM 26 January 2015.

I just noticed that the figure of the Magdalena in this painting, is a copy / reinterpretation of an Aert Mytens in the British Royal Collection, a "Death of Cleopatra". No idea where the picture is kept or can be seen, but it at least explains why the link with Mytens is so easily made for the painting now up for sale. Due to the condition of the Royal Collection copy, it is hard to compare the two. The Cleopatra seems more pictural, while the Magdalena is a bit more a drawing, but I don't see either as fundamentally better.
END OF ADDENDUM

The same sale also has a  Lady Godiva (top picture). Described as "Continental School, 19th century" and estimated at Euro 2,700 to 4,000, the auctioneers at Bonham's seem to be unaware that it is a very nice copy after Lerius (bottom picture). Obviously, the original (kept in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp) is vastly superior, but of the few copies I have seen at older auctions, this is by far the best. No idea if it is worth more than the estimate, but it was worth a better description at least.