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.

"Manner of Roelandt Savery" is follower of Frans Snyders

Carlo Bonte, from Belgium, sells on 21 March 2017 a "Unsigned, late 16th / early 17 century, in the manner of Roelandt Savery" Still Life with grapes and exotic birds, a panel painting estimated at 2,000 to 4,000 Euro.

The work doesn't resemble Savery (1576-1639) so much as it does some works by his contemporary Frans Snyders (1579-1657), from which it seems to have copied the style and the use of some birds, even though a straight copy is hard to find. The work isn't good enough to be a Snyders or even a Workshop of Snyders, and is probably best described as a Follower of Frans Snyders.  Late 16th century in any case is a bit optimistic for this work, which is firmly seventeenth century.

The grapes as such could be a by or after a number of painters, including Snyders. Grapes were among the most popular elements in still lifes. Even Savery used them sometimes, but they are a less typical element in his works.

But the birds are the most obvious link between this work and Snyders. Especially his multiple variations of the "Concert with Birds" contain some very similar examples.

For example the blue tit has a similar pose, but it isn't a real copy.

The hoopoe also is quite close.

As is the swallow.

I'm not quite sure what this rather twisted bird is supposed to be, but again something very similar appears in the works of Snyders.

It's almost as if someone had access to some now lost work by Snyders and copied it, or could use a lot of his preparatory drawings, and created a new  composition from them.

I haven't been able to find any other similar work (an outdoors scene where a lot of birds surround some bunches of grapes), usually you have indoor grapes with one or two small birds, or outdoor birds on a tree.

All in all, an unusual and remarkable work, but not by a major artist. The estimate seems about right, perhaps a bit low.

UPDATE: sold for 25,000 Euro, a bit low indeed!!

"Attributed to Roeland Savery" copies elements from other Flemish Orpheus paintings

Veritas, from Germany, sells on 18 October 2016 an "Attributed to Roeland Savery" Orpheus and the animals, a small panel (18 by 32cm) estimated at 2,000 to 3,000 Euro.

It copies elements from a similar work by Jacob Hoefnagel. The horse and the deer in front of it are nearly the same.

Of course, Hoefnagel did only copy the composition from Jan Brueghel I from ca. 1600.

The painting for sale has some similarities to the work of Savery (e.g. the eyes of the horse), but acks his refinement and sense of luxury. Some aspects, e.g. the deer, are also completely different to how Savery would paint.

I would call this an anonymous Flemish work from ca. 1650, not really good enough to attribute to any specific master. The estimate seems about right.

Interesting "Garden of Eden" at Mercier

Mercier, France, sells on 16 October 2016 a "Flemish School, 17th century, circle of Nicolas de Bruyn" Garden of Eden, estimated at 20,000 to 30,000 Euro.

They correctly describe it as being related to De Bruyn (and the central figures taken from a very popular engraving of Adam and Eve by Giovanni Battista Paggi), The engraving by De Bruyn (image from the Rijksmuseum) is an Orpheus charming the animals, but by replacing the central figures it became a Garden of Eden (I really love the way these Flemish painters turned the same composition into different subjecs by changing the absolute minimum of elements, see also some posts about the Franckens).

But they fail to mention the quasi-identical but somewhat larger version of this work in the (for them nearby) Museum of Flanders in Cassel (in the historically Flemish speaking parts in the North of France). The work for sale is 88 by 112cm, the Cassel version is 103 by 125cm. The style of the works is very unusual for Flemish paintings, quite distinct from most other artists working at the time.

Oh, and the central figures aren't the only thing changed between the engraving of De Bruyn and the painting for sale. Many smaller details also are changed, but this one is the most amusing probably. Apparently not everything is allowed in the Garden of Eden!

The style of the work for sale (and the work in Cassel) is reminiscent of the style of Jacob Savery, but as he already died in 1603, he can't be responsible for these works. His son Jacob Savery II lived until ca. 1651, so perhaps we should be looking in that direction? The above "Ark" is given to both Savery I and Savery II, depending on the page you visit...

UPDATE: sold for 16,500 Euro. 

UPDATE 2: and now for sale at Dorotheum, on 17 October 2017, with an estimate of 20,000 to 30,000 Euro. They do point to the Cassel work, but not to Nicolaes de Bruyn. They also namedrop Jacob Bouttats. Interesting to see whether it will sell for more than last year (as is usual nowadays, no provenance is given when a work has been on sale so recently).  

UPDATE 3: sold for 186,000 Euro!!!