Abraham van Diepenbeeck, Gerard Seghers, or someone else?

Brussels Art Auctions, from Belgium, sells on 5 February 2019 an "attributed to Abraham van Diepenbeeck" drawing (well, a brunaille, a monochrome brown painting) of the Adoration of the Shepherds, estimated at 10,000 to 15,000 Euro.

It's a very nice oil sketch, by an accomplished artist, but I don't immediately see the link to Van Diepenbeeck (1596-1675). To me, the work seems more closely related to the work of Gerard Seghers (1591-1651).

Many aspects of this work go back to works by Rubens and especially Jacob Jordaens, including the maid with the jug on her head, or the discarded jug in the front, and the cow or ox looking at the spectators from the side. Other aspects, like the shepherd on the right carrying the sheep, can be found at David Teniers (Collection Custodia, copy by Teniers after Schiavone); this work has the ox looking at you as well, and a quite similar position of the Virgin and the kneeling shepherd on the left, so it may have been the direct inspiration for the composition for sale.

Like I said, I haven't found a similar Van Diepenbeeck, but the RKD lists the above Adoration by Gerard Seghers, from the Saint Vincent church in Soignies (Belgium). It has many similar elements (girl with the jug, position of the shepherds, head of the kneeling shepherd, ox on the left, ...) Enough to attribute it to Seghers? No, there have been too many painters creating similar works in this period.

But while Van Diepenbeeck has created at least one Adoration of the Shepherds as well, it doesn't look very similar to me. (Engraving by Cornelis Galle II, image from the Rijksmuseum).

In a strange coincidence (or a case of selection or perception bias?), a painting based on the same composition is now for sale at Scheublein, Germany, on 1 February 2019. It is described as "Unknown, 17th / 18th century", and is actually smaller than the brunaille (30 by 35 cm vs. 44 by 56 cm). It is estimated at only 150 Euro, and sold without limit. It is a strange hybrid, with the shepherd on the right copied nearly exactly, and the virgin reversed left-right, apart from her head which maintains the original direction. Weird! It seems that there should be other versions (or an engraving) out there where this is based on, and which may tell us more about the original artist.

Having said all that, what about the estimate? It's quite steep, certainly without any certainty about the original artist. It seems unlikely that it is by any of the truly greats like Rubens, although perhaps Jordaens is a possibility. For a more minor artist (compared to Rubens or Van Dyck), 10,000 Euro is a lot, but it is a large, finished, and good work, and a finished painting of this quality would easily fetch a lot more, so I guess that the price is reasonable, though hardly a bargain.

"17th century" painting is copy after lost Abraham van Diepenbeeck

Rops, from Belgium, sells on 22 April 2018 a "17th century" Flagellation, estimated at 200 to 300 Euro.

It seems to be a copy after an unknown painting by Abraham van Diepenbeeck. The quality seems insufficient for it to be the original, unless the quality is hidden beneath layers of overpaint.

The RKD shows a coloured engraving of the same Christ figure, by Alex Voet after Van Diepenbeeck. This is supposed to be an engraving after an older engraving by Cornelis Galle, also after Diepenbeeck, but I haven't been able to find that engraving, so I can't judge whether the painting for sale isn't simply a painting after that engraving.

I have found a few other engravings of similar compositions in the database of the Rijksmuseum though.

Both are said on the print to be by Hieronymus Wierix and thus somewhat older. As Van Diepenbeeck started painting around 1622, and Wierix died before 1619, it seems as if the original creator of this composition wasn't van Diepenbeeck after all!

I have also found another engraving by Galle after Diepenbeeck which shows the next scene, and which features the same elements.

All in all, we have a rather run-of-the-mill 17th century Flemish painting which is more important art historically than artistically, but even so it is cheap at 200 Euro.

UPDATE: sold for 240 Euro, auction house estimate was right on the ball after all.

"Abraham van Dieperbeeck" (sic)? Perhaps, but certainly a copy after Rubens

Cambi sells on 4 May 2016 an "Abraham van Dieperbeeck" Susanna and the Elders, a large (130 by 165cm) canvas estimated at 10,000 to 15,000 Euro.

It is said to be signed ADP (?) and dated 1589 (?), which is hard to reconcile with the dates for Abraham van Diepenbeeck: 1596-1675. One would expect that, if Van Diepenbeeck used a signature, it would be AVD or at a stretch ADB, but ADP is simply weird. I can't find another artist who easily fits that monogram either though.

The painting is an adapted copy after a famous Rubens painting of Susannah, best known from an engraving by Lucas Vorsterman but also by some copies.

This version is good in the woman and the right of the two elder men, but the other man, the fountain, and the background, are a bit strange and look to modern to me. I wouldn't dare spend 10,000 Euro on it, certainly not without more information (like close-ups of the monogram and date).