"Late 16th c. Adoration" is copy after Raphaël

Carlo Bonte, from Belgium, sells on 11 December 2018 a "Posibly French late 16th century" Adoration of the Shepherds, estimated at 1,000 to 1,500 Euro.

At first I thought it maight be the work of Jost de Laval, a probably Flemish painter who worked a long time, until his death in 1578, in Lübeck, but in the 1550s worked in Bruges (where the auction is). Certainly that second one (found through RKD) has many of the same elements (from the depiction of God over the use of a wooden, derelict construction inside a ruinous old temple, to the arrival of the shepherd with a reluctant dog, left in the work for sale and right in the RKD one), and a similar awkward style.

But a much closer match was another work I found at RKD, a "Follower of Lambert Lombard" from the Lindenau Museum in Altenburg, and from a similar date as the Laval ones (which would date this work somewhat earlier than the auction house thinks). The works clearly share the same origin, even though the background on the right is totally different.

It turns out that both works are copies after Raphael, through an engraving published by Hieronymus Cock in 1563 (found at the Rijksmuseum). The work for sale is a much more faithful reproduction of the engraving than the Lombard version.

The work probably is only worth the estimate, but it is a good enough old Flemish copy of a Raphael to be interesting.

"Flemish School, ca. 1550" is copy after Raphael (though with a Flemish connection)

Aguttes, from France, sells on 29 May 2018 a "Flemish School, c. 1550" drawing of the Adoration of the Magi, estimated at 2,500 to 4,000 Euro.

It is a good-sized (28 by 44 cm) but somewhat damaged drawing showing a quality composition which is well executed, but not brilliantly so.

The work is a design for a tapestry for Raphael, now in the Vatican Museums, and probably created at the Pieter Van Aelst workshop. The above drawing from the Morgan Library may be the original, and is certainly considered to be contemporary with the tapestry.

Comparison of a detail (upper left corner) will show the difference in quality, the condition issues with the work for sale, and the fact that the Morgan version is larger. But despite all this, it also shows the considerable quality and skill of the Aguttes version.

I have not been able to find food images of the finished tapestry, only partial images under an angle, which is rather disappointing. This one, from a tour operator in Rome, is the best I could find (and the accompanying text is surprisingly informative).

Unless some evidence could be found linking the drawing for sale directly to Pieter Aerts and his workshop, I think the estimate is about right, perhaps somewhat high for a copy.

Prunier "Workshop of Raphael" drawing

Prunier, France, sells on 13 November 2016 in their very interesting auction of Medieval and Renaissance art as lot 120 an "Italian School, after Raphael" Saint George and the Dragon, a drawing of 23 by 31cm estimated at 6,000 to 8,000 Euro.

I don't really understand why they call it "Italian School, after Raphael" but then go on to list three eminent critics who all agree that it is "Workshop of Raphael, early 16th century". Paul Joannides is an art history professor at Cambridge and has in 1983 published the book "The Drawings of Raphael", so clearly an expert. Konrad Oberhuber died in 2007, but is described at the Dictionary of Art Historians as a Raphael expert (he was director of the Albertina). "Bodart" is presumably Diane Bodart, Assistant Professor of Italian Renaissance Art History at Columbia University. 

The drawing is based on Raphaels painting of the same subject. It dates from 1504, has about the same dimensions (31 by 27), and is kept in the Louvre. While the painting is larger vertically (and doesn't have the cut-off hooves for the horse), the drawing is wider and shows all of the dragon, not the somewhat awkward one of the painting. 

It also has some differences compared to the painting, e.g. the tail of the horse, and the skull and bones on the ground. It would be interesting to see X-ray pictures of the Louvre painting to compare them. 

The drawing given in Wikipedia as the preparation for this work is obviously for a different painting, the version now kept in the National Gallery in Washington. Still, it is interesting as comparison here.

Much more interesting is the drawing in the Uffizi. This is the same composition as the one for sale here, including the skull, the tail of the horse, and so on. The Uffizi version seems earlier, more searching, while the one for sale is more finalizing things, or simply copying the Uffizi version (though in any case a very good copy). The drawing is clearly not copied after the painting.

I'm no expert in Raphael or drawings, but when some of the most eminent Raphael experts claim it is from his Workshop, we have a link with a known Raphael painting and drawing, and the drawing for sale has a lot of quality and is in good condition, then the estimate seems very conservative to me.

Could this 19th c. drawing sold by Cambi be a major Raphael sleeper?

Cambi, from Italy, sold last week an "Italian School, early 19th century" large (100 by 84 cm) drawing "in the Renaissance style", estimated at 400 to 500 Euro.

Instead, it sold for 40,000 Euro.

So, what could be the reason? Well, the sitter and her pose look suspiciously like a Raphael portrait, "La Donna Gravida", from the Palazzo Pitti. The drawing is obviously done by a very skilled artist (and the estimate was very low in any case, even for a random 19th century drawing of this quality). Could this be a real Raphael, completely misjudged by the auction house? It seems quite possible, without having handled the actual work (and not having seen e.g. the back of it), and in that case this is a major find and at 40K a major bargain for whoever spotted it and took the risk.

Perhaps it will reappear in a few months or years time and we will know more then. For now, it is just nice to speculate a bit.

"17th century Flemish School" is copy of Raphael

Bukowski's sells on 2 June 2015 a "17th century Flemish School" transfiguration, a nice enough oil on copper estimated at 4,300 to 5,300 Euro.

No idea whether this copy is Flemish and/or 17th century (an "oil on copper" has a fair chance of being both, as it wasn't as often practices elsewhere and elsetime), but the original is by Raphael, now in the Vatican Museum. The estimate seems a tad high for this copy. UPDATE: unsold

Copy after Raphael

At Giraudeau in Tours, they sell on 1 June 2015 an "Italian school, 17th century" Holy Family, a large painting (190 by 125 cm) estimated at 5,000 to 6,000 Euro.

It is a reasonably well, rather academically executed but poorly conserved and dark copy after Raphael, "The Holy Family of Francis I", now in the Louvre. The estimate seems to be at the high side for a copy.

Unrecognised (and rather poor) copies galore

Sometimes (well, quite often), you encounter copies which are only good enough for the dustbin. I'll collect a few here, not bothering to post them before the end of the auction because, well, they aren't worth bidding on...

This is being offered as "head and shoulder portrait of a bearded gentleman wearing a hat", 20th century. It's actually a copy of sorts of a famous self-portrait by Rubens.

A much better painted copy, but in very poor condition, was sold as "19th Century School - Oil painting - Shoulder length portrait of a man in 17th Century dress with wide brimmed hat" at the Canterbury Auction Galleries as well. You'ld think that these very famous and very often copied works would be recognised by auctioneers...

Similarly, the above was offered as "portrait of the Madonna and child with the infant John the Baptist", without any reference to the original "Madonna della tendo" by Raphael. Especially the Child in the copy is fascinating.

Somewhat better, but equally unrecognised though there was only one painter with this style and subject: a copy of Fragonard's "La chemise enlevée" from the Louvre is offered by Deutsch Auktionen in Austria (24 February 2015, lot 59) as "French School late 18th Century, Naked lady on her bed struggling with Amor". A wide estimate of 700 to 1,400 Euro, seems more than enough. UPDATE: sold for 1,800 Euro!

Oh, and I have no idea why, but the above is given at Dreweatts and Bloombury as a "Follower of / After Van Dyck". I don't see the resemblance here...