An unknown Antonius Claeissens?

Chorley's, from England, sells on 28 January 2020 a "17th century Flemish" Virgin and Child, estimated at £700 to £1,000.

The remarkable physique of the Virgin, with the very broad shoulders, makes me believe that we should look in the direction of the Claeissens brothers from Bruges.

Probably the closest is a work by Antonius Claeissens (active 1551-1613), which has a very similar Virgin, with a comparable background as well (found through RKD). The row of tassels at the top is comparable, but most striking is the nearly identical dress of the Virgin, with the same border decoration.

The chances of having the same bodytype for the rather solemn virgin, with the same dress and decoration, same type of flower, same type of background, but a different artist or workshop, seems rather slim.

Antoon Claeissens is sadly the least interesting of the four Claeissens (compared to his brother Pieter the Younger and certainly his other brother Gilles or his father Pieter the Elder). Even so, this is a relatively rare work from the very last spasms of the great School of Bruges which started with Van Eyck, Memling and Christus, and which was already overtaken by the more modern art of the Pourbus family.

This work should be worth 2,000 to 3,000 Euro.

UPDATE: sold for 7,500, impressive!

Two versions of same composition, one Bruges, one South Germany?

Lempertz, from Germany, sells on 20 September 2019 a "Probably South German master, 16th century" Holy Kinship, estimated at 6,000 to 8,000 Euro.

While there are many somewhat similar works with this subject, sharing some aspects with the one here, I could only find one other work with nearly the same composition. Strangely enough, the execution of that one is quite different, and it was described at the auction in 2005 as "Circle of Anthuenis Claeissins", referring to the Bruges painter Antonis Claeissens (1536-1613). I found that one through Artnet, and I have no idea of which auction house, estimate or result. They also only offer a relatively small image, which is too bad, but beggars can't be choosers I suppose.

The two paintings may look quite different at first sight, but too many details are the same to be a coincidence.

At the bottom left, we have Saint John the Apostle and Saint James the Great, with their mother Salomé. In both cases, Salomé has very similar headgear and mantle, the same position with the slightly opened book in one had and the other around the standing Jacob, and John sitting at her knees and reading.

The top left shows 6 important Biblical figures (plus a child), including Joseph, Salomon, and Zebedeus. The order and placement of the figures is identical, with e.g. Joseph standing with his hands on the balcony on either side of the head of Mary, Zebedeus on the left pointing to his wife Salome, or the two women directly to the right of Zebedeus, with the baby and the same headgear. As in all these comparisons, it will also be clear that the colours vary wildly, and that postures and details are sometimes very similar, and at other times completely at odds.

In the centre we get Mary and her mother Anna, and Jesus between them.These are less similar, but some details like the dress and headdress of Anna (and the way it falls over her shoulders), the hand in the open book, all point to the same origin.

At the top right we see six further figures (again with an extra child, John the Baptist), with Elizabeth, Simeon, Cleophas, and others. The three left-most figures, Salomon (labeled (Salomé in the painting), Simeon, and Joachim, have the same position and gestures, but by mistake has the bishops hat of Zacharias been given to Simeon in the Claeissens version (or vice versa). The figures on the right are less similar, although they are placed in the same order and e.g. the rightmost one, Alphaeus, points to his wife Mary in both examples.

The bottom right has Mary Alphaeus, and 4 children; James (the son of Alpheus), Simeon (probably Simon the Zealot or Simeon of Jerusalem), Barnabas, and Judas Thaddeus. Striking similarities include the headdress of Mary, the position of all 5 figures (with Judas Thaddeus half kneeling, his head turned, one hand stretched out towards Jesus, and the other holding a basket; and Simeon and Barnabas together reading a book).

All in all, these similarities can not possibly be a coincidence, and point to a common origin for these two works. However, the clear differences seem to indicate that their have to have been intermediate versions, not one common origin (like an engraving), but e.g. two different drawings after some common work, which then formed the basis for these two paintings.

I haven't found a trace of these possible other (better) versions of this composition, nor of a possible original artist. Any and all information is welcome!

Another copy of the "Triumph of David"

Finally a new post, I have been very busy and so have little time to spare for this blog. I have probably missed a lot of interesting paintings recently...

Hejtmanek, from Czechia, sells on 6 June 2019 a "Circle of Antoon Claeissens" Triumph of David, estimated at 12,400 Euro.

I have already discussed another copy (with the same dimensions) of this painting in November 2018, when I mistakenly thought it was the same version as the one shown on the RKD. That one was sold as "Northern School", and I placed it close to Frans Floris.

Apparently this was again one of those typical popular Flemish paintings from the late 16th century, made in multiple copies of varying quality, but otherwise very close to each other. This is a good but not brilliant copy, and it may struggle to fetch the estimate. I still believe it to be closer to Floris than to Claeissens.

UPDATE: sold right at the estimate, 12,500 Euro.

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.