Cheap Flemish "Saint Jerome" is based on Titian (plus a copy after Correggio)

Hargesheimer, from Germany, sells on 24 September a "Flemish Master, first half of the 17th century"  Saint Jerome, a 93 by 121 cm large canvas estimated at 400 Euro.

While the work is damaged, it is a well-painted work and an absolute bargain at that price. The Jerome is a close copy of the same saint painted by Titian in 1575, now in the Escorial. The painting for sale is somewhat more line-based and less colour-based than the Titian, and made by a good artist but not by someone of the calibre of the Ventian master. Whether the additions to the left are inventions by the copiist or are evidence that the Titian was originally larger is not clear to me at the moment. The somewhat weird way the lion is cut off in the Titian may point to the latter possibility, which would make this work a lot more interesting (depending on how many copies of the full Titian are still around).

The work for sale could do with a thorough cleaning, a lot is happening in the background that is barely visible anymore (e.g. the two figures in a boat on the left, and a lion at the middle bottom). It should be worth at least 1,000 Euro without even guessing at the artist or knowing the exact relation to the original Titian work.

UPDATE: sold for 800 Euro, double the  estimate.

Oh, and at the same sale there is an "Antwerp Master, middle 17th century" mother and child, a small (31 by 34) but attractive work estimated at only 400 Euro. It turns  out to be a copy after "La Zingarella" by Correggio, a ca. 1517 work now in the National Museum in Naples.

UPDATE: sold for 700 Euro.

Could this 16th century Venetian portrait be by Titian?

Koller sells on 18 March 2016 a "Venetian, 16th century" "Portrait of a Humanist, probably Giovanni Danna. 1551." "Inscribed and dated lower right: GIOVANNI DANNA E.S. A. D. MDLI. Seal on the reverse: Accademia Clementina Bononiensis. 127.5 x 109.5 cm.", estimated at 3,330 to 5 000 Euro.

Giovanni D'Anna was a Flemish merchant in Venice. He was the son of Maerten van Haanen / Martino d'Anna (1475-1553). Martino was ennobled by the Habsburgs in 1529, and in 1545 became a citizen of Venice (where he had bought the Palazzo Talenti in 1538; this was a Grand Canal facing palace with a façade fresco by Pordenone, as you can see from the picture, they were really wealthy). He had two sons, Giovanni and Daniele. I couldn't find the date of birth for Giovanni (Jan van Haanen), but he apparently died in 1574. He had a son named Paolo d'Anna. Paolo (and another d'Anna named Zuane) also were patrons of the arts, commissioning works from Tintoretto and possibly Titian as well.

The interesting things is that according to Vasari (and others), d'Anna has been portrayed by Titian. This portrait is not known (one contender is shown further in this blog), making it an interesting prospect to find (but probably an interesting one to fake as well).

In 1543, d'Anna had already commissioned an "Ecce Homo" from Titian, and probably a Virgin with Saint Roch and Saint Sebastian as well. The Ecce Homo is now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. It is said to contain the portrait of Giovanni d'Anna, but I don't know which figure is supposed to be him (not the one on the far right, as I first thought: perhaps the one shown above?).

The British Museum has a medal made by Leone Leoni around 1545 with the portrait of Giovanni d'Anna. Is this the same person as the one in the painting, 6 years later? Hard to tell, as the medal is obviously stylized, modeled on Roman emperors, more than being really lifelike. The receding hairline, the Roman nose, the beard: there is nothing here that disproves the connection, but many other portraits have the same characteristics.

There is another portrait which has been speculated to be the Titian portrait of D'Anna (whereabouts unknown to me, presumably Spain). It looks to me less likely to have any Titian involvement though. It doesn't seem to be the same person, but that would only rule out the second one if we are certain that the one for sale is Giovanni d'Anna (and that the inscription isn't a later addition).

I've also found reference to two Titian portraits of members of the d'Anna family in the Musea of Verona, but one was said to have a long white beard and the other was shaven, so this matches neither painting above. How correct these old attributions were is not clear.

The portrait for sale has some very good elements (like the head, pictured higher in this blog post), but also some worryingly inadequate aspects, like the hand pictured here. The details (e.g. of the clothing) are also very sketchy.

On the other hand, the composition is very well done. Perhaps the painting has suffered a lot over the years, with many overpaints; perhaps it is a copy of the original (lost?) Titian portrait of d'Anna; or perhaps it has nothing to do with Titian (who knows if even the inscription is real?). If one compares it with the above Titian portrait of Philips II of Spain, I see no reason to doubt that this one could well be by the same hand. But if it wasn't for the d'Anna connection, I wouldn't spontaneously have thought "a Titian" either...

What's it worth? Depends on how much you have to gamble, or how good you know the works of Titian. If it is real, it is worth a whole lot more; if it is a copy of a lost Titian, it still should be worth more. If it is an anonymous Venetian portrait, the estimate seems about right. If it is a later fake intended to dupe people like me, then it should be ignored.

UPDATE: sold for 4,000 Swiss Francs (the bottom estimate), so no one seems to have really believed that this may have been a Titian. Too bad, I would have loved to have predicted another sleeper...

Flemish "religious scene" is a Death of Saint Lawrence after Titian

Bellmans, from the UK, sells on 19 January 2016 a "Flemish School, 18th century" "religious scene", estimated at £200 to £300.

It clearly is a "Death of Saint Lawrence", with the typical barbecue used for this martyrdom, but it took some searching to find the origin (or at least one origin) of this painting.

A first clue was a work sold at Christie's Amsterdam in 2005 as a "Manner of Rubens", which contained in reverse the same angels, man with the flag, and similar central figures.

No Rubens' work that formed the basis for this painting turned up though, but further research showed it to be a faithful though largely reversed copy of a work by Titian (the angels on the top are strangely not reversed in the Christie's work) from the Escorial.

The reverse inscription on the work for sale (part of the "last words" of Lawrence) is a clear indication that this work is based on an engraving of the original. Where the added parts come from is not immediately clear. It is a cheap and strange work, but doesn't have much artistic quality.

UPDATE: sold for £550 or more than double the estimate.

Dutch School Diana is partly copied from Titian

May, from Roubaix in France, sells on 12 October 2015 a "Dutch School, circle of Cornelis van Haarlem" Diana and Actaeon canvas of 100 by 122cm, estimated at 6,000 to 8,000 Euro (no good image seems to be available online).

It is, at least in parts, a reverse copy from Titian's painting of the same subject, from the National Gallery. Both the Diana hiding behind her towel (with the stretched leg) and the pose of the man seem to be directly inspired by (an engraving of) Titian.

Whether it has anything to do with Van Haarlem is doubtful, the style could be said to be in the circle of a number of Flemish and Dutch artists of the period, including Hendrick van Balen. In any case, I think the estimate is too high and the work isn't worth more than 5,000 Euro at the most.