The many variations of an Early Netherlandish "Throne of Mercy"

Bernaerts, from Belgium, sells on 9 December 2019 a "Flemish, anonymous, late 16th century" Trinity, estimated at 2,000 to 3,000 Euro.

They describe it as a version of a much-copied painting from the National Gallery by the Master of the Prodigal Son.

In fact it is much closer to a composition which I already described in a blog post from November 2018, and which goes back to a (lost?) Rogier van der Weyden work. The image shows the Trinity in a specific pose usually called a Throne of Mercy.

That post contained a few images of such compositions, but there are many further versions of this composition around, many of them quite elaborate, and attributed to a wide variety of artists. Most of these I found through the BALat / Kik-Irpa phototeque search.

A somewhat less close copy, as the center piece for a triptych, is attributed to Jean Bellegambe and kept in the Museum of Fine Arts in Lille (a museum, by the way, with a fairly good collection of Early Netherlandish paintings, including works by Dirk Bouts).

Colijn de Coter, Louvre

Joos van Cleve

Copy after Robert Campin

Another copy after Campin

Master of the Holy Blood? (Brussels)

 

Antwerp School, 1525 (Christie's 2014)

 

But the actual original work is most closely followed in a few very nice copies. Apart from the one in Museum M in Leuven (given in the earlier blog post), these included one by Colijn de Coter from the Louvre, one attributed to Joos van Cleve (location unknown), a copy after Robert Campin from the Fanch collection, another very similar copy after Campin (location unknown), and one tentatively attributed to the Master of the Holy Blood (from the Brussels Museum of Fine Arts). Another version of this, given to "Antwerp School, ca. 1525" was sold at Christie's in 2014 for £50,000.

At some point another major version evolved, only showing the trinity (Father, son, and Holy Ghost as a dove) without the angels or the background. The one for sale now, and the one for sale in the previous post, are examples of this, but other ones are known. The main variations are the Father either looking straight ahead (closer to the examples above), or to the side (showing more grief and less majesty).

Northern French artist

Follower of Hugo Van der Goes (Verviers)
 

Unknown painter, Brussels

Unknown painter, Marke

Examples include one from an unknown Northern French artist (location unknown), a Follower of Hugo van der Goes from the Verviers City Museum, which is actually very close to the work for sale (but better executed), an unknown painter (Brussels, Social Services Museum) (even closer to the one for sale), and an unknown painter from the De Béthune collection in Marke, Flanders.

1504 triptych, Lessines

Follower of Campin, Berlin 

 

Jean Bellegambe, Douai

 

Master of the Virgo inter Virgines (Zagreb)

  

Further variations can be seen in a rather naive triptych from 1504, now in the Hospital Museum in Lessines, a follower of Campin in the Museum of Berlin (an intermediate form between the two major versions), the central painting from a major polyptych by Jean Bellegambe, from the Museum of Douai, and even a "Master of the Virgo inter Virgines" from the Strossmayer Gallery in Zagreb.

The original version of this intermediate form (Father frontal, background, but no angels) may be found in a Robert Campin from the Hermitage. Note that this is one of the very few in the long list of images where the left hand of Christ (right from our point of view) is hanging down instead of being open, to show the stigmata. But in essence it clearly is the same composition.

Related to this is a work supposed to be by Robert Campin as well, from the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. It is not a painting but a kind of bejeweled embroidery, which I only found through sites selling art reproductions, not directly, so I give the information for what it's worth.

Like I said, one of the most often copied or reinterpreted Early Netherlandish paintings you can find, with many great names associated.

"After van Eyck" is copy after Campin instead

Westport, from the USA, sells on 31 March 2019 in an interesting single owner (a lover of Pieter Brueghel) auction an "After van Eyck, possibly 16th / 17th century" oil on panel of a donor with Saint John, estimated at $2,000 to $3,000.

It is not a copy after Van Eyck, but after a 1438 work by Robert Campin, a portrait of Heinrich von Werl, professor of theology in Cologne. The original is (together with the other wing of the triptych) kept in the Prado in Madrid. It is remarkable, that while the work for sale follows the original in nearly every detail (things like the nail above the mirror, the view through the window, or the clasp on the book that carries the lamb), it totally omits the blue cloth in the center. I don't know whether this says something about how the Campin looked at some point in the past, or whether it is an unlikely error by the copiist, or if it means that the artist was poor and blue too costly?

The figure of Saint John here seems to have been the inspiration for the same saint in the Donne Triptych by Memling, nearly 50 years later (now in the National Gallery).

The work for sale is hard to date. A 17th century copy after Campin would be very late (though not impossible, I have once discussed an 18th century Memling copy), so it is more likely to be either 16th century or early 20th century. If it really is old, it should be easily worth the estimate even though it isn't painted very well, as it is a rare surviving example of the lasting infuence of Campin next to Van Eyck and Van der Weyden.

UPDATE: sold for $1,100 only.

"16th century Flemish School" goes back to Robert Campin and is close to Barend van Orley

Horta, from Belgium, sells on 25 February 2019 a "16th century Flemish School" Virgin and Child, estimated at 7,500 to 10,000 Euro. They note that it has an ancient attribution to Lancelot Blondeel.

The image is based on a well-known work by Robert Campin from ca. 1420, one of the most enduring works of the early Flemish Primitive art with at least 60 old copies and variations known. The original is sadly lost, but this version from the Met gives a good idea of what it must have looked like.

The version shown here goes back to Bernard (or Barend) van Orley (1491-1542), for example this version from the Museum of Oldenburg. It has a similar altar with cloth (which functions as a carpet as well) behind Mary, and the architecture with early renaissance elements and two windows is clearly comparable as well.

Still a lot closer is the Madonna Lactans of the Museum of Cadiz, which is also attributed to Bernard van Orley (but doesn't look to be good enough). This one only differs in details (the figures at the top of the colums) and in style of execution; an "attributed to Van Orley" for the work for sale seems reasonable based on this, and the estimate is very reasonable for this work.

UPDATE: sold for 30,000 Euro!

"Ca. 1480" or "First half 17th century"?

Pforzheimer, from Germany, sells on 23 June 2018 as lot 338 a "Follower of Robert Campin, ca. 1480" Virgin and child, estimated at 6,000 Euro.

The work, a copy of a famous work by Campin from the Städel in Frankfurt, was according to the RKD previously sold by Phillips London in 1998, but then described as "First half 17th century", which seems more correct based on the background.

Not many old full-length copies of this work are known, making it interesting, and it shows how long the work of Campin was appreciated in the following centuries before it became largely forgotten. But that doesn't justify dating this copy to a very early 1480, which doesn't fit the style at all. Late 16th century would be the very earliest, but 17th century seems a perfect match, looking at the way e.g. the clothes are made more shiny, and how the drapery is placed behind the scene.

This of course has an influence on the value. 6,000 Euro would have been very cheap for a 1480 painting of this size and reasonable quality, but seems the max this work can achieve when one considers its real age. But it has the distinction of being the first Robert Campin copy I have highlighted!