Anonymous Flemish "Head of Christ"

Rob Michiels, from Bruges in Belgium, sells on 26 November 2016 a "Flemish School, 16th/17th century" Head of Christ, a 53 by 45 cm oil on copper estimated at 400 to 600 Euro.

While the work looks familiar, I can't immediately find another version of this composition. The style reminds me vaguely of the works of Pieter Claeissens II, and in any case seems firmly set in the tradition of Bruges.

It seems to be some slightly more modern mixture of two Memling works, Christ Blessing and Christ Crowned with Thorns, with a similar nose and eyes, simple clothing (not the richness one can see with Massys and so on). But it clearly isn't a Memling or anything of that level, and looks to me more like a 1520-1540 painting.

The face of Christ without further attributes (like the crown of thorns) is a rather unusual subject: it may be that this is a fragment of a larger work, perhaps a Salvator Mundi. Another possibility, which would explain why he is looking to the side instead of at the viewer, is that it was coupled with a second panel, presumably a depiction of Mary.

As a strong, well-painted and original image, it should be worth 2,000 Euro.

UPDATE: sold for 800 Euro, double the estimate but clearly less than I expected. 

"Vigilius of Aytta": good copy of a Frans Pourbus I

Vanderkindere, from Belgium,  sells on 23 November 2016 a "Flemish School, 16th century" portrait of Aytta van Zwichem, better known as Vigilius, estimated at 400 to 600 Euro.

It is a copy of or closely related to a Frans Pourbus I painting now in the Galleria di Palazzo Rosso in Genoa.

Another portrait of Aytta painted by Frans Pourbus I (ca. 1570) is from the Louvre.

The version for sale is probably not by Pourbus, but is made by a fairly good painter anyway. It looks somewhat modern, perhaps because it is slightly rubbed. But the estimate is way too low for a 16th century portrait of this quality, even when it is a copy, and it should be worth 1,500 to 2,000 Euro.

UPDATE: a reader sent me a link to another, even closer version of the Pourbus portrait, now in the Museum Kunstpalast in Düsseldorf.  That version is listed as a copy after Pourbus, and was estimated in the past (before 2002) as worth 2,000€. I prefer the one for sale actually.

UPDATE 2: sold for 1,800 Euro, right in the middle of my estimate!