"Flemish, 17th century" is a French portrait of a princess by the circle of Claude Deruet or Daniel Dumonstier

Dresden auctions, from Germany, sells on 18 June 2016 (tomorrow!) a "Flemish 17th century" portrait of "La Princesse deguimene", dated 1633, estimated at 1,200 Euro.

It is a French portrait of Anne de Rohan, princess of Guéméné (1606-1685, so about 27 years old at the time of the painting), an important figure in France at the time (her son was the child companion of the young Louis XIV, but he would be decapitated in 1674 for conspiring to murder the same Louis XIV). Not that many portraits of her are known, so this is historically speaking an important work. The above engraving seems to be at a later age, and these French idealized portraits are hard to match with a real portrait in any case.

But also from an artistic point of view is this an interesting piece, which firs perfectly in a certain French portrait style of the period (near the end of the style, to be exact). The main painters of this type are the Dumonstier family (Daniel and the others), but also painters like Charles Beaubrun. The above paintings are attributed to (top to bottom) Circle of Daniel Dumonstier, ca. 1630; Charles Beaubrun (clearly inferior, but not the best Beaubrun either); and Claude Deruet (probably closest to the one for sale here).

I would call the one for sale "Circle of Claude Deruet". It is badly damaged, although much of it (certainly in the face) can be restored, ut I think it is worth about 2,000 Euro (as the sitter is known and the face is less formulized then in many of these), the value of unknown sitter portraits of this type is lower unless they are exceptionally well painted).

Unusual and cheap "Ceres" portrait, circle of Claude Deruet

Chaprais, in Besançon, France, sells on 22 October a "17th century" Portrait of a lady as Ceres, estimated at 400 to 500 Euro.

It is a rather unusual painting. Portraits of ladies as goddesses, usually Diana but also Ceres, appear relatively frequent. Portraits of ladies in the style we have here are also relatively frequent (though rarely with a white-and-golden dress). But the combination? I couldn't find another French Ceres portrait in this style.

The painter must be searched in the circle of Claude Deruet (1588-1660). The comparison with his "Lady dressed as Diana" (which may also be by Henri Beaubrun, but looks to me closer to Deruet) shows obvious similarities, although the Diana is somewhat better painted. Other Deruet paintings show more skill still, the difference between his own works and studio works is often great. Of course, it could also be the work of one of the Dumonstiers working in this period, their style is usually more individualised but otherwise comparable.

The dress and hairdo are typical for French and English portraits from around 1620-1630, like the above (better) one by Daniel Mytens of Catherine Howard.

A dress similar to the one here can be found in the above portrait by Marcus Gheeraerts from around 1620.

As for the Ceres-type, the best example I know of is the Portrait of Maria de Tassis by Van Dyck, from the Liechtenstein Collection (painted ca. 1629). Subject, dress, hairdo, all are from the same period and type; but the painting is incomparable much better...

In any case, the painting for sale is cheap for the  reasonable quality, good condition and unusual look. Getting this for less than 1,000 Euro is a bargain.