Half a Mostaert for a tenth of the price! Plus: finally found: the original artist behind this composition

Galerie de Chartres, located in an old church in France, sells on 8 April 2018 a "Flemish School, early 17th century" Crucifixion, estimated at 400 to 600 Euro.

It is the same composition I already discussed in February 2017 and December 2017. Most versions are given to Gilles Mostaert, some to Denys Calvaert. I said that it was an original composition by Mostaert, but the auction here correctly points out that it is directly based on a crucifixion by Marcello Venusti (1512-1579).

A good version of this painting is housed in Campion Hall. Their interesting page on it makes it clear that the composition is in its turn based directly on a drawing by Michelangelo (and the painting was even thought for a while to perhaps be an original by Michelangelo). Venusti seems to have often taken his inspiration from Michelangelo, as with this other blog post about a work by him.

That drawing by Michelangelo can be found in the British Museum. It's interesting to see how a work by Michelangelo became so popular in Flanders nearly a century later

Most versions I have shown have drifted further and further away from the Italian original, this one though is still rather close, with the angel(?) underneath the arms of Christ.

The closest Flemish version is probably the one sold at Christie's in 2005. That one fetched $33,600, so the 400 Euro for this half version, which needs cleaning, is a bargain.

Roelant Savery: central figure comes from Michelangelo...

Sala Retiro, from Spain, sells on 22 February 2017 an "Attributed to Roelant Savery" Rape of Ganymede, estimated at 26,000 Euro.

They already tried to sell it about a year ago, then with an estimate of 35,000 Euro.

It is a remarkable painting, I can't find another work by Savery which resembles it. What I did find though was the origin of the figure of Ganymede. I first noticed it in a remarkable painting by Battista Franco (1510-1561) from the Palazzo Pitti in Florence. It depicts the Battle of Montemurlo with the Rape of Ganymede. The Battle of Montemurlo is a 1537 battle where the troops of Cosimo I de Medici defeated the opponents of the Medici family rule in the city and effectively made the Medici the rulers of the city for a long period.

Close-ups of the two Ganymedes clearly show that the Savery is nearly identical the earlier Franco The setting is completely different though, instead of a majestic battle and a heavenly meal, you get a lonely shepherd dog looking up at the scene. I don't really know which of the two is the weirdest, but the Savery is certainly the closest to the original story.

But the trail of breadcrumbs doesn't end with Franco; he was heavily influenced by Michelangelo, and this figure is also originally an invention of Michelangelo. Although the original is lost, we have copies of his drawing in the collections of a few museums, including the Fogg Art Museums in Harvard, and the Royal Collection in Windsor Castle (shown above).

An engraving of this work, with the dog at the bottom, was made soon afterwards by Marcantonio Raimondi, one of the most important engravers of the Italian masters of the first half of the 16th century; it seems likely that this engraving was the actual inspiration for Savery (or whoever painted this Flemish-looking version). The dog as well is rather similar, but the distance between dog and master is vastly increased, and the background is completely changed.

25,000 Euro still seems rather expensive, but it is an unusual and well executed painting from the circle of Savery, so it certainly has a considerable value.

UPDATE: again not sold, and for sale a third time on  12 December 2017 with an again lowered estimate of 19,000 Euro.

For my 201st post, I give you a Michelangelo!

At Arthouse Hejtmanek, a Czech auction house, they sell a "Late 16th century, Italy" drawing of a "Last Judgment". At first, not much more info was given: however, the description has since changed to read that it "carries indications of an influence by the statues of Michelangelo Buonarroti." The estimate remains the same though, at 365 Euro.

The influence isn't so much the statues of Michelangelo, the influence is that it is a straight (and good!) copy of part of the fresco by Michelangelo of the Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel. The estimate seems rather low for an early drawing of such an iconic work, other partial copies of the same size usually fetch a few thousand Euros. UPDATE: sold for the estimate price of 365 Euro.

Of course, if you believe it to be a design for the fresco by Michelangelo, and not a copy after it, then it should be worth millions.

Sleeper drawing of the year?

A reader kindly alerted me to what may have been the sleeper drawing of the year. At Ader in Paris, in an auction of old drawings, they sold the above study of arms, Italy, 16th century. Estimated at 400 to 500 euro, it apparently (I haven't yet seen it confirmed) sold for 200,000 Euro. That's right, 200,000 Euro for a study of arms!

I suppose some bidders recognised the artist, I suppose we should be looking towards Michelangelo or someone similar. I guess the drawing will reappear in a major sale or exhibition soon with a more spectacular attribution.

Any guesses on who the artist may have been, or what it was a study for, are more than welcome!

UPDATE: apparently (and probably correctly) it has been bought as a drawing by Jusepe de Ribera. Seems a bit expensive, in that case, but a nice discovery nevertheless. I can just imagine the dismay when the bidders realised that they weren't the only ones to have spotted it.