"Italo-Flemish" work is copy after Abraham Bloemaert

Hampel, from Germany, sells on 5 July 2017 an "Italo Flemish painter, 17th century" The Golden Age, estimated at 20,000 to 30,000 Euro.

In the German description, they tell us "The representation is also found in a similar way in the work of Abraham Bloemaert (1564-1651). On the other hand, the depiction of the nudes is due to Venetian painting."

To be more precise, the work is a copy after a beautiful 1603 drawing by Abraham Bloemaert, not just something"similar". It is a nice copy, though I don't see the Italian connection. 

Some aspects of the explanation are alo unsatisfactory, e.g. "the dog lying undisturbed is shown beside a peacock, a symbol of peace among animals". Not really, that would be depicted by a lion some other fearsome predator and a lamb. The peacock, casting his shadow right at the front, is a symbol of the vanity and the folly, which is what this painting is really about: not just a "Golden Age", but a warning against vanity, debauchery, lust, with Time abiding his, well, time. 

The work by Bloemaert was often copied and wa more widely known through an engraving by Nicolaas de Bruyn from 1604. The painting here is not in the same direction as the reversed engraving, but oriented as the original was, so it may be based directly on the original drawing, or on one of the other copies. 

According to the text in the Sotheby's catalogue accompanying another copy, sold in 2016 for $10,000, there probably was no original painting, only an original drawing.

The work for sale is somewhat less faithful to the original, especially in the background. It is also a very large copy, 114 by 174 cm (e.g. the Sotheby's one wsa only 44 by 69 cm). It will probably easily fetch the estimate. But why they hid the connection to Bloemaert in the desscription is not really clear, if a work is a copy just say so, don't bury it in the text somewhere.

"Dutch or Flemish, possibly based on Abraham Blomaert" is copy after Rubens

La Suite Subastas, from Spain, sells on 27 October 2016 a "Dutch or Flemish School, last third of the 17th entury" Virgin and child, "Possibly following the models of the Virgin and Child by the Dutch painter Abraham Blomaert (1566 - 1651)", estimated at 3,000 to 5,000 Euro.

It has nothing to do with Bloemaert and simply is a copy after Rubens, a Virgin and Child with versions in the Hermitage and the Metrolopitan Museum, so not some obscure work. I already discussed this work in a blog post in February 2015.

This version is allright, nothing exceptional but not the worst either. The estimate may be slightly too high.

They have the same problem with their lot 50, a "16th Cnetury Flemish School" which is also a copy after Rubens (and so obviously not 16th century). It's not the first time that copies after this Rubens have been described as 16th century for some reason, I described a similar situation in August 2015.  The estimate of 5,000 to 7,000 is too high for this copy.

After Bloemaert, Lazarus

At Sadde in Dijon, they sell on 16 April 2015 a "Flemish School, 17th century" Lazarus, estimated at 200 to 300 Euro.

It is a copy after an engraving of a (lost) painting by Abraham Bloemaert. A better and larger painting after the same engraving was sold at Christie's in 2013 for £10,000. The current one is decorative and has art historical interest, but isn't worth much more than the estimate, perhaps some 800 Euro at the most. UPDATE: and it sold for 850 Euro :-)