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.

Drawing is by or after Marcello Venusti

Fauve Paris sells on 17 June 2017 an "Italian School, late 16th century" drawing of Christ and the Samaritan woman, quite large (37 by 50 cm) and estimated at 400 to 600 Euro.

The composition is the same as a work by Marcello Venusti (1512-1579). One good copy of it can be seen in Erddig, Wales, in a National Trust museum / house.

The original appears to be in the Museum of Siena.

The drawing is certainly better than e.g. the Welsh copy, and is not identical to the original either, as it has a landscape orientation instead of a portrait one. As far as I can discern it, it even looks better than the supposed original painting from Siena, which makes me wonder whether it could be a final preparatory drawing by Venusti, instead of a copy by someone else after the fact.

I can't find any comparable drawings, so valuing this is hard. It has some damage, so as an anonymous copy the estimate seems right: if it is by Venusti though, the value should be at least 2,000 to 3,000 Euro.

UPDATE: a reader pointed out that the painting (and presumably the drawing) are not originally by Venusti, but are copies after (an engraving after) Michelangelo! This version is from the British Museum. This explains the better quality of the drawing, and removes the link to Venusti. Thanks for the update!