Another copy of Hugo Van der Goes' "descent from the cross"

Horta, from Belgium, sells on 11 September 2018 a "Flemish School, 16th or 17th century" Descent from the cross estimated at 4,000 to 6,000 Euro.

It is another (but much better) copy after the work by Hugo Van der Goes, which I already discussed in April 2018. The above version is from Cambrai, and I doubt it is the original (or else it has had a lot of poor restorations and overpaint). But it gives a good idea of how the original probably looked.

The work for sale has some very good parts, especially the two figures on the left. The Mary and John are clearly weaker (e.g. the hands of the virgin are very poorly executed). The painting looks to be from around 1550, certainly the Jesus looks to modern to be 15th century. But even so, it is one of the better and more interesting copies, and should be worth the estimate without much trouble.

"Follower of Colijn de Coter" is copy after Hugo Van der Goes

Mercier, from France, sells on 15 April 2018 a "Flemish School, second half of the 16th century, follower of Colijn de Coter" Descent from the Cross, estimated at 12,000 to 14,000 Euro.

It actually is a rather poor copy after Hugo Van der Goes, his Descent from the Sint-Janshospitaal in Bruges (or the better version from the Cambrai City Museum, pictured here). This is by far his most often copied work, and one can buy for a similar price a much better version that what is offered here. It isn't even clear that this is actually an old copy and not a 19th century or more recent one. As an old copy, it should be worth 3,000 to 4,000 Euro. As a more recent copy, it is virtually worthless.

Colijn de Coter, slightly younger than Van der Goes, also painted in the same tradition and general Early Netherlandish style, but there is no real link between this work (or this version) and the art of De Coter.

UPDATE: a reader alerted me that I had already tweeted about this work in the past, when it was offered at Hampel last year, with the same estimate, but (of course) failed to sell. It's good to see that sometimes the sellers are smarter than the auction houses :-)

UPDATE: now for sale with art dealer Jean Moust as by an Anonymous Flemish Painter, 2nd half 16th century, priced at 11,600 Euro (costs included), so clearly cheaper than at the two auctions. Still  in my opinion way overpriced, and still no mention of Van der Goes.

UPDATE: price now (30/08/2018) lowered to 10,000 Euro, still a nit above my estimate of 3,000 to 4,000! The description now indicates that it is a copy after Van der Goes, so we're getting there in the end.