Underestimated Entombment by unknown German master

Brussels Art Auctions, from Belgium, sells on 5 February 2019 a "German School, 16th / 17th century" Entombment, estimated at 5,000 to 8,000 Euro.

It is a beautiful painting in the International Gothic style, which one can find all over Western Europe, but this example indeed looks German. It seems unlikely that it would be a 17th century work, it would be very archaic by then, and is much more likely to be early 16th century, or even second half of the 15th century.

There were many masters (known by name or with a notname) in Germany at the time, and I am not very familiar  with most of them, so I have been unable so far to pinpoint an artist or region for this work. Even so, I believe it to be severely underestimated, and think it will easily fetch 25,000 to 30,000 Euro instead.

One artist who has created similar works is Caspar Isenmann (1410-1472), from Colmar (now in France, but art historically situated in Germany).

Another work which matches the one for sale in some aspects (especially the balding man and his clothing) is an altarpiece by Martin Schongauer, also from the Unterlinden Museum in Colmar.

The Virgin in the work for sale strongly reminds me of Flemish examples, e.g. by Quentin Massys (the Lamentation from Museum M in Leuven). But the remainder of the work offered here is more archaic, with its strict horizontality and lack of background, and is closer to Flemish examples like the works of Dieric Bouts (who was popular in Germany).

An Entombment by a Master from Cologne, dated to the first decade of the 16th century and now in the Art Institute of Chicago, also reminds me somewhat of the work for sale.

For comparison, a Spanish example (Pedro Sanchez de Castro) with a similar iconography, including the Gothic panels in the tomb, but a quite different execution.

I have not touched upon depictions of the entombment in other art forms, including miniatures and stained glass windows, and especially the large sculptures one can found in churches in Germany and especially France. But one of these caught my eye, a Grablegung from the Saint Michael Church in Schwäbisch Hall, from 1456. It is probably the closest composition to the one for sale here, with the man at the head, and especially with the position of the hands and feet of Jesus. Whether this is a coincidence or points to a Swabian origin of the painting (considering that the Swabian School was a rather important group of painters in these years) is not clear.

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.

"In the manner of Brueghel" is (workshop?) copy after Jan Breughel the Younger

Brussels Art Auctions, from Belgium, sells on 9 October 2018 a "17th century Flemish School, in the manner of Brueghel" village market, a small work (28 by 37) estimated at 3,000 to 3,500 Euro.

While they probably intended Pieter Brueghel with the reference to a Brueghel, the work is actually based on a painting by Jan Breughel the Younger (1601-1678).

I first noticed it through this study, sold at Sotheby's in 2008 for £115,000. The work for sale is a quasi identical copy, down to many of the colours, and has about the same size (24 by 35)

But only the lower portion (the part below the yellow line) is copied completely, and as far as I can see nothing from above the line.

A monotype drawing for this work also exists, as can be found on the website of Onno Van Seggelen, a major dealer in Old Master drawings. This drawing lacks some figures which can be seen in the Sotheby's painting, and a few of those appear in the work for sale, so this drawing has no direct bearing on this copy, but is unusual and interesting to show anyway. That page gives us a date for the study: ca. 1620.

Sotheby's sold in 2009 one other version of this painting, now attributed to Jan Brueghel the Elder and Joos de Momper. A much larger work (59 by 87), it fetched £85,000. This one includes all of the study, and has the same winter setting.

So where does this land the work for sale? At first sight, it looks a lot worse than the Breughel, but this seems at least partly due to dirt on the painting, and the change of a winter setting to an autumn(?) setting, which makes everything a lot more brownish.

Identical details from both show how close the execution of the work for sale actually is to the original, down to most details and to the precision in it (remember that this isn't a large work).

To follow this work so closely, the artist needs to have had the original (the study or another version) in front of them, which coupled with the clear quality of the work increases the chances of this being a workshop copy, and not some random later copy. It should then be worth closer to 10,000 Euro.

UPDATE: the work has been thoroughly cleaned, and doesn't really look better. I don't know if the cleaning has revealed pre-existing problems, or whether some new ones have been created, but it hasn't become more attractive, which is a pity. It is now for sale with Githart in Germany on 9 May 2020, with an estimate of 6,500 Euro. The description matches my above analysis (independently, or have they simply used my work, no idea...)

"Antwerp School" painting is known from one other version described as "Style of Joos van Cleve"

Brussels Art Auctions, from belgium, sells on 5 June 2018 an "Antwerp School, 16th - 17th century" Virgin and Child, a small panel (25 by 20 cm) estimated at 2,500 to 3,500 Euro.

Another version of the same composition was sold at Sotheby's Amsterdam in 2004 for 21,600 Euro. It had nearly the same dimensions, but was visually more appealing (both better painted and with more, interesting, details). That work was attributed to the Master with the Parrot (active 1500-1530), but the RKD has since reattributed it to "Style of Joos van Cleve" (1485-1540).

The works seem related to the older "Madonna and Child with the Parrot" by Martin Schongauer (copy from the Met shown). But the two paintings probably derive from an unknown or lost work by some Flemish master of the early 16th century (I don't think the better version from the RKD is the original).

Attributing the work for sale to one painter specifically will be hard, it doesn't seem to be good enough to be bysome recognised artist, but it still is an old and rather attractive work and should easily fetch the estimate.

"French School" is copy after Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre

Brussels Art Auctions, from Belgium (duh), sells on 30 january 2018 a pair of "French School , 18th-19th century" works, showing the Rape of Europa and the Judgment of Paris, estimated at 500 to 600 Euro.

I haven't found an origin for the Judgment of Paris depiction yet, but the Rape of Europa is a copy after the work by Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre (where "Pierre" presumably is the surname, rather confusing this!) Pierre (1714-1789) was the penultimate French "Premier peintre du roi" (between François Boucher and Joseph-Marie Vien), so quite an important painter in his time, although now he is, well not forgotten but hardly a household name anymore. The original painting (now housed in the Dallas Museum of Art) is a huge work, 240 by 274 cm.

This is a reversed copy, so presumably after an engraving. The estimate seems about right.

An anonymous "Saint Luke paints the Virgin" of ca. 1550

Brussels Art Auctions sells on 13 June 2017 a "Flemish School ca. 1500" Saint Luc painting the Virgin, a tondo estimated at 2,000 to 3,000 Euro.

The work is known in a few copies, one very similar (or the same) for sale in London with Knoedler in 1947 (info from RKD), and one sold at Bernaerts in Belgium in 2008, which was slightly better painted (also via RKD).

The origin of these works seems to be a panel by Lanceloot Blondeel (1498-1561), a much better work with some variations but with enough similarities to suppose some link. The way Sint Lucas is positioned, his hat, the panel in front of him, seem to form the basis for the work for sale.

Other elements though seem to come (in reverse) from  a work by Maerten de Vos (1532-1603). These include the backpack (?) of Saunt Luke, and the person to the side pushing something on a table (Saint Joseph at work in this case, an angel n the work for sale).

This would mean that the ca. 1500 date is too early, and that a date after 1525 is much more likely (based on the Blondeel) or even after 1550 (if the De Vos is considered relevant as well). The estimate is a bit steep, it really isn't a very attractive work, but it is not the most common theme and in any case quite old, so still an interesting work.

Bruges school, ca. 1550: Pieter Pourbus?

Brussels Art Auctions, from Belgium obviously, sells on 14 March 2017 a "Bruges School, ca. 1550" portrait of a lady, estimated at 7,000 to 10,000 Euro.

It is a very fine portrait, much better than most of these "School of" works, and I wonder if it isn't by the master of the Bruges Portrait school of the time, Pieter Pourbus the Elder.

While the hands and arms are perhaps not of the finest quality (though still very good, and perhaps overpainted somewhat in the past?), the head is very accurate and compelling. Very few painters from Bruges from the period would have been able to produce such a realistic, convincing work.

Pieter Pourbus (1523-1584) is the first of the Pourbus family to become famous; descendants include Frans Pourbus the Elder and the Younger, and Pieter the Younger. He was  Dutch but worked almost whole his life in Bruges. The paintings which are attributed to him are of varying quality, but some of the better ones are closely related to the composition we have here.

A very good portrait was sold by Christie's in 2006 for $132,000.

But on the other hand we also have much more schematised works like the portrait of Jacquemyne Buuck from the Groeningemuseum.

Benson, portrait of Anne Stafford

Pourbus, Portrait of a Lady, Metropolitan Museum

The only other painter from the period and region who in my opinion was capable of such good portraits was Ambrosius Benson, but the work for sale more closely resembles Pourbus in my opinion.


But whoever painted it, 7,000 Euro seems cheap to me and it should be worth closer to 20,000 Euro, also considering its relatively large size of 95 by 68 cm (large for the type of painting that is).

UPDATE: note how a very similar type of bonnet can be seen in a ca. 1550 small Pieter Pourbus painting from the National Trust building "Ascott".

"Adam and Eve": Jan Brueghel and Rottenhammer? Copy after Dürer

Brussels Art Auction sells on 22 Match 2016 a "Circle of Jan Brueghel and Hans Rottenhammer" Adam and Eve, oil on copper, estimated at 8,000 to 12,000 Euro.

It is a very good painting, but it looks to be older than Brueghel and Rottenhammer (which combination would mean about 1590-1620).

The origin is a print by Dürer from 1504, which is closely followed here.

The same pose (but different positions of the heads) was also used for an Adam and Eve by Jan Gossaert (from the Museo Thyssen Bornemisza in Madrid).

 It is not clear why the current work is given to the circle Brueghel and Rottenhammer, it seems to archaic for them and should be placed closer to 1520 than to 1590 probably. As it is an anonymous but good copy, it is probably worth closer to 5,000 Euros than the estimated 8,000 Euros.

"Antwerp School" is copy after Holbein the Younger

Brussels Art Auctions sells on 22 March 2016 an "Antwerp School, 16th-17th century" portrait "presumably of Erasmus", estimated at 3,000 to 5,000 Euro.

It is a dark but at first sight very good copy of the Erasmus portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger from 1530 from the Galleria nazionale di Parma.

A copy of this work, sold at Christie's in 2015, fetched $93,750.

The condition of the painting for sale makes it impossible to decide how close to Holbein the painting for sale may be situated, and how it can be compared to the Christie's version (it seems to be somewhat less detailed), but it looks to me a painting that is clearly worth the estimate and may be worth a lot more.

More unrecognized Abraham Janssens copies

On Monday I blogged about an unrecognized copy after Abraham Janssens coming up for sale. As is so often the case, these things seem to come in small waves, as here are five others in the same situation!

Brussels Art Auctions sells on 15 December 2015 a "17th century, Antwerp School" series of five small paintings (37 by 30 cm) depicting the five senses, estimated together at 7,000 to 10,000 Euro. Only four of them are shown at the auction site (and here), "Hearing" is missing.

Such series were very popular in 16th and 17th century Flanders, ranging from the four seasons and the five senses to the 12 Sibyls, kings, months, or the 12 proverbs by Brueghel in the Mayer Van den Bergh Museum.

This particular series is a copy after the works of Abraham Janssens, which seem only to be known through copies, though usually of a much higher quality. The above "Sight", from Hampel Auctions, was estimated at 70,000 to 90,000 Euro on its own (but apparently not sold). A poorer copy, but still clearly better than what is for sale now, was sold at Christie's in 2001 for 4,495 Euro (as an Allegory of Vanity).

The above "Feeling" was sold at Dorotheum in 2009 for 18,600 Euro. Copies of the "Taste" can also be found online, e.g. one sold at Dorotheum in 2000 for 15,000 Euro, but unrecognised as one of the senses and described instead as "Gipsy woman, allegory of beauty or Vanitas".

The most complete series of copies I could find was a series of 4 sold at Neumeister in 1999 for 23,000 Euro. It included the one work not depicted here, "Hearing", together with Sight, Feeling and Smell (and missing Taste).

All five works appear on the market regularly in copies, though rarely if ever as a full series, so in that regard this is a chance to get a poor but complete copy of a famous series. But the estimate seems a bit high anyway, I can't see people paying more than 1,000 Euro each for these, or 5,000 Euro together.