4 "Flemish school" paintings: work by Willem van Herp? Or after Marten de Vos?

Lamas Bolaño, from Spain, sells on 22 March 2018 two sets of two paintings from the "Flemish School, 17th century", estimated at 5,500 to 7,000 Euro per pair.

The works are related to paintings by Willem van Herp (1613-1677), but the condition doesn't really allow me to discern whether they are by or after him. Lot 1162 shows the "works of men", while lot 1169 displays Biblical scenes. The works have Latin texts at the bottom, but they are too small to decipher for me.

The second painting for sale shows people working on the land. This is a fragment of a painting by Willem Van Herp from a series on stories from Genesis, which was sold at Sotheby's in 2006, as can be seen at the RKD.

The final one is the easiest to recognise, as it shows the building of the Ark of Noach. This as well is part of a painting by Van Herp from the same series, again showing the bottom right corner of the larger work (thanks to the RKD again!).

But in this case the differences are more pronounced, and I was able to find another, better work much closer to the painting for sale. I haven't been able to find the location or origin of this version, which is given as "Flemish". It is very close to the work for sale, with the identical castle in the upper right and so on, but in much better condition and probably better painted as well.
 

Perhaps it is the original work at the basis of this engraving by Sadeler. It is based on a design by Marten de Vos, but one would expect the engraving to be in the reverse direction of the painting (this isn't always the case, but in the vast majority of cases this reversion is the result).

So it may well be that Van Herp isn't the artist behind these paintings (directly or as inspiration), but that Van Herp and our anonymous artist both used the same engravings as their starting point.

And sure enough, we also find engravings for other works in the series, like the Methusalem, and Cain in the smithy (which means we have now not only found the origin for these works, but also identified the stories behind them, yay!)

The estimate seems rather steep for copies after engravings, but they form a nice set in any case: 4,000 to 5,000 for the 4 together seems more realistic though.

"Flemish School ca. 1600" is weak copy after Marten De Vos

Lempertz, from Germany, sells on 21 May 2016 a "Flemish School, ca. 1600" Marriage at Cana, a large (91 by 122) work presumably from Antwerp, estimated at 8,000 to 10,000 Euro.

It is a mediocre copy (fairly detailed, but without much talent) of a work by Marten de Vos from the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal in Antwerp. The original oozes luxury, renaissance ideals, and considerable talent (though it would soon be eclipsed by the generation of Rubens). The copy isn't completely identical, so it may be based on a variation of the work, but in any case is not an original composition nor the work of a named master.

Another painting, optimistically given to Frans Francken the Elder, is also related to this composition, but somewhat more remote.

The one for sale will struggle to fetch the estimate, anything above 5,000 Euro would really surprise me.

"Continental School" is copy after Marten de Vos

Alex Cooper, from Maryland, sells on 27 June 2015 a "Contiental School, late 16th or early 17th century, probably Flemish" painting with the Raising of Lazarus, estimated at $1,000 to $2,000.

It is a reasonably well painted, somewhat simplified copy after a work by Marten de Vos. I haven't found the original, but the engraving by Johannes Galle is clear about it. As the painting for sale has the same orientation as the engraving, it is probable that it is based on an engraving of the painting and not on the original.

Another painting by De Vos, from the Liechtenstein collection, is closely related to this composition though.As usual, it shows the differences between an original and a run-of-the-mill copy quite easily.

The one for sale shouldn't fetch much more than the lower estimate probably.

After Marten de Vos, the Creation of Adam and Eve

In a generally quite interesting auction, Piasa in Paris sells on 2 April 2015 a Flemish School, ca. 1620 "Forest landscape with the creation of Adam and the creation of Eve", a large canvas (102 by 158cm) estimated at 2,000 to 3,000 Euro. UPDATE: not sold.

It is actually a copy after Marten de Vos: the original has all the above plus the creation of the animals. The above is a late 16th century engraving by De Sadeler after De Vos. As usual, the painting follows the engraving (direction), so the original painting was probably in reverse, and obviously better. I haven't found any indication on whether the original painting is still known, it must have been a good one judging from the engraving.

UPDATE: again for sale at Sequana, Rouen, France on 14 October 2017 with a more generic "17th century Flemish" attribution: it has an estimate of only 700 to 1,000 Euro, which seems to be a realistic price (even as a copy, I can't see this fetching less than 700 Euro, and if you have a daughter who likes unicorns and old paintings, this is the best gift you could imagine ;-) )

UPDATE 2: sold for 1200 Euro, as communicated by AuctionRadar. Fair price for this copy.

Flemish allegory of touch

At Artcurial, 27 March, they sell a Flemish "Allegory of Touch", described as Antwerp School ca. 1600. Measuring 95 by 80 cm, it is estimated at 5,000 to 7,000 Euro. UPDATE: not sold...

It looks to be a copy after or a school of Marten de Vos painting. The above was described as "Workshop of Marten de Vos" when it was sold at Bonhams for £4,200 in 2011, and was a better picture than the one for sale now, but it helps in attributing the current one. Especially the face is nearly identical.

A "real" or at least Studio of Marten de Vos painting of similar subjects is still a lot better (and more expensive), like the above related "Allegory of Smell", so please don't judge Marten de Vos on the two first images.