Old Masters

The School of Antwerp, the Brueghel Dynasty, the early flemish landscape are just some examples of what you will find here.

Upon request, we are able to propose specific subjects and artists, tailored for any type of interest.

We consult and evaluate established and growing collections and we provide research and assessment for painting of interest.

We also carry out the role of consultants and we are able to evaluate your collection should you be interested in selling some works.

Martin Ryckaert

Franz Cristoph Janneck

Jan Brueghel I and Hans Rottenhammer

The Master of 1518

Jan Brueghel II and Hendrick van Balen

Dirk van Hoogstraten

Herri met de Bles II

Joos van Craesbeeck

Jan Woutersz Stap

Pietro Mera called Il Fiammingo

Cornelis van Cleve

Frans Francken III

Antoine Mirou

Sebastian Vrancx

Abraham Govaerts and Pieter van Avont

Ambrosius Francken II

Marcellus Coffermans

Monogrammist HS

Kerstiaen de Keuninck

Christiaen van Couwenbergh

Adam van Noort

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  Martin Ryckaert

  River Landscape with a village

  oil on copper

  cm 19x27

  1615 c.

  Marten Ryckaert was born in Antwerp in 1587, with one arm only. His condition did not prevent him from becoming one of the most famous and skilled landscape painters of the 1600s, sometimes able to match the Brueghels' pictorial ability and use of color. He was a friendly man, refined, sophisticated and member of the Chamber of rhetoric: his human and social characteristics were reflected in his paintings. His unmistakable style is particularly highlighted in small- format landscapes, preferably on copper, according to the most established dictates of Flemish painting. The scenes beloved by Ryckaert are all dedicated to the playful events of small villages, almost always imaginary, where a series of exquisitely anecdotal characters bustle with cheerful industriousness. Nothing different from this also happens in our work, which immortalizes a daily street scene at a village situated on the banks of a river. The painting, in perfect state of conservation, can be compared to the best results of Ryckaert both for quality and subject. A valid comparison can be made with the river village passed by Sotheby's (New York) in 2009 and with another one in Stockholm in 2007, signed and dated "MR 1616".
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  Franz Cristoph Janneck

  The Feast of Gods

  oil on copper

  cm 58x82

  Signed F.C. Janneck F.C.

  Franz Christoph Janneck was born in Graz but by 1730 he had established himself in Vienna and studied at the Academy. He later became assessor there from 1752 until 1758. His oeuvre comprises mainly cabinet pictures of conversation pieces as well as landscape, religious and mythological scenes. These, such as the present painting were often painted on polished copper which enabled the artist to achieve a great degree of finish and detail. Our composition can be compared to his fetes galantes scenes, which are considered among his finest achievements and are some of the best examples of Austrian rococo and are principally inspired by the French rococo, notably the work of Antoine Watteau (1674-1749). However, his meticulous technique and predilection for copper as a support also reveals a clear debt to the Leiden fijnschilder tradition. The origins of the pictorial tradition of the love garden can be traced to medieval manuscript illustrations and representations of the hortus conclusus (the enclosed garden). In the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century, Flemish artists like Hans Bol and Louis de Caullery depicted elegant figures in love gardens or imaginary park-like landscapes. The theme gained in popularity with the first generation of Dutch high-life genre painters, David Vinckboons, Willem Buytewech, Esaias van de Velde, and others, who made a speciality of such garden parties (buitenpartijen). The present scene can be considered a garden party: a young Bacchus is seated at the centre of the composition, wearing a crown of grapes surrounded by semi-naked nymphs and satyrs who are playing music and drinking wine, in a secluded spot with fruit trees and parrots, Roman buildings in the background. The composition is constructed in a pyramidal way so that the eye of the viewer falls directly to the centre. The scene is reminiscent of another scene by the artist, depicting a fete galante, in a private collection, where one finds the same motifs of an enchanted world, where the protagonists take part in the same game of love, music and pleasure. The brilliance of the colours and the delicacy of Janneck’s touch perfectly capture the spirit of the rococo.
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  Jan Brueghel I and Hans Rottenhammer

  The Triumph of Neptune and Amphitrite

  oil on canvas

  105x183 cm

  1595 c.

  Expertise Klaus Ertz

  In Greek mythology, Amphitrite was a sea-goddess and the wife of Poseidon, identifiable with the Roman god Neptune. According to ancient sources, Neptune wanted to marry Amphitrite, but she was too much in awe of her suitor, and hid from him in the ocean. Grief- stricken, Neptune sent a dolphin to search for his lost love. To his delight, the dolphin convinced Amphitrite to return, and she agreed to share Neptune’s throne. The present picture depicts the moment at which Amphitrite returns to take Neptune’s hand in marriage. To the left, Neptune and Amphitrite sit in their chariot pulled by sea serpents, while the goddess is crowned with a wreath by two putti. A crowd of Tritons and Nereids riding fantastical sea-creatures surrounds them. Their dynamic poses enliven the picture, creating a vibrant scene. Amphitrite, seated upon red drapery that wraps around her thighs, gazes directly at the viewer. The events are set in a rocky coastal landscape, arching out into the sea. In the background, the towers and buildings of a town can be made out. Dark clouds sweep across the sky and mist rises from the sea, imbuing the scene with an atmospheric quality. In the foreground, to the right of the centre, a nude female figure is represented from behind. Her helmet and shield identify her as Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom and sponsor of the arts, trade and defense. As can clearly be seen in the picture under discussion, the shield is the famed Aegis, bearing the head of Medusa, and according to Homer, fashioned by Hephaestus. Above among the clouds, the father of Zeus (and brother of Poseidon) can be seen, brandishing a thunderbolt and resting on a globe, two of his attributes.
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  The Master of 1518

  Adoration of Magi

  Oil on panel

  Cm 56x70

  1515 ca.

  The definition “Master of 1518” was coined by the art historian Maximilian Friedländer to identify the author of the altarpiece with Life of the Virgin Mary in the Cathedral of Lübeck, in whose side panels the date 1518 is visible. Later, the title of Master became widely used to identify Jan van Dornicke, the father-in-law of Pieter Coeck van Aelst. The significance of this artistic personality of the early 1500s is pivotal to understanding the transition from the tradition of the Flemish Primitives of Bruges to the new pictorial language of Antwerp. It is indeed with the Master of 1518 that the period of the so-called Antwerp Mannerists traditionally started. This term (also coined by Friedländer) defines both a location (Antwerp) and a time period (1500 - 1530). It serves the purpose of identifying a stylistic language with precision and without any negative connotations. The phenomenon is certainly amongst the most peculiar and commendable of old Dutch painting. Many very different painters grappled with this style. It is mainly characterized by an unrestrained formal eclecticism, towards which converge an elaboration of elements of the most diverse artistic-past and contemporary Flemish painting, a calligraphic virtuosity to achieve the desired complication and exasperation of lines and compositions. The rendition of natural elements in such great detail as if they were under a magnifying glass and through the usage of different textures goes hand in hand with the theatrical staging of architectures ranging from hyper-gothic to inventive classicism, all inhabited by characters made alive by sparkling iconographies, from exotic costumes to caricatures, from the emphasis on gestures to a shimmering kaleidoscope of colours, following a direction that makes the works plausible and impossible at the same time.
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  Jan Brueghel II and Hendrick van Balen

  Landscape with the Rest from the Flight into Egypt

  Oil on panel

  cm 54x87

  1630 ca.

  Expertise Klaus Ertz

  Magnificent example of collaboration, following the widespread practice in Antwerp in the seventeenth century, between Brueghel the II as a landscape specialist and van Balen as a "staffage" painter, i.e. the painting of the characters. The composition is among the most famous of Brueghel the II (derived from Brueghel I) and it was copied and imitated by many followers, due to its ability to combine the best sacred subject and the ideal landscape.
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  Dirk van Hoogstraten

  A Tronie: Hades

  Oil on panel

  Cm 30,5x23,5

  signed with monogram DvH

  1635 ca.

  A mysterious artist of the Van Hoogstraten family line (which still exists today). He was the son of a painter, as well as the father of the renowned artist Samuel van Hoosgtraten who, before becoming Rembrandt's student, trained with his father Dirk in Dordrecht until 1640, the year in which this father's death is recorded. He was a painter of many different interests, who initially trained as a goldsmith and engraver. His pictorial corpus consists of but a few signed works (with monogram or rarely with his surname in the extended version). Nevertheless, especially thanks to the efforts of the homonymous foundation dedicated to the painter’s family to piece together a well-thought-out catalogue to trace the profile of a typical Dutch Golden Age artist. As mentioned, the variety of themes he dealt with makes up a multifaceted range of works, combined with an all-round style, although, always stylistically recognisable. In the figurative and religious domains, Hoogstraten's style shows an eclectic use of different artistic and iconographic sources, with inspiring and clear references to Pieter Lastman, to the figuratives of the Utrecht School (especially Abraham Bloemaert) and to a specific luministic culture influenced by the Caravagesques.
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  Herri met de Bles II

  (Also known as the Master of Copenhagen Flight into Egypt)

  The Earthly Paradise

  Oil on panel

  1540 c.

  Expertise Luc Serck.

  Deep in a primeval forest, a man and a woman argue. Around them, a large group of animals is at the feet of a tall fountain. In the background, the landscape stretches as far as the eye is able to see, revealing gigantic glacial-colored mountains. It is the Heaven on Earth.  The central scene is the Fall of Man. If we had to make a selection of the themes that have occupied a privileged position in the world of Flemish painting, the "Earthly Paradise" would occupy a privileged place: from the Flemish Primitives to the Brueghels, and among them, Hieronymus Bosch. Exactly from him is it necessary to start to exploration of a painting as unique as it is enigmatic, just like our small tablet.

  Contact us to learn more
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  Joos van Craesbeeck

  the lice crusher

  Oil on panel

  Cm 25x19

  1640 ca.

  Joos van Craesbeeck painted mainly genre scenes and a few religiously themed compositions. His genre scenes depict low-life figures as well as scenes of middle-class people. The chronology of his work is difficult to establish since only one painting, the now missing Self-portrait in front of a Mirror, is signed. In addition to the one painting signed with his full name, there are about 30 other paintings with the monogram cb or jvcb. Despite the difficulty of dating his paintings, it is believed that his earliest works are largely indebted to the subject matter and style of Brouwer. In these early works he relied on the types of Brouwers and he followed Brouwer's palette in its subtle harmonies with occasional gleaming highlights. Like Brouwer he applied colour very thinly leaving parts of the ground visible.
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  Jan Woutersz Stap

  Pontius Pilate washing his hands

  oOil on Panel

  cm 106x75

  Expertise F. G. Meijer

  From the Spiridon Collection, Roma, sold at Amsterdam, F. Muller & Co., 19 giugno 1928, lotto 53; collezione De Jong Schouwenburg, Gorssel; Kurt Rheinheld, Berlin. Published: A. van Schendel Jr. ‘Johannes Woutersz. Stap’, Oud Holland 56 (1937), pp. 269-282, cat.nr.1, fig.1. Published on RKD.
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  Pietro Mera called Il Fiammingo

  Landscape with Temptation of St Anthony

  Oil on copper

  cm 30

  1610 ca.

  Flemish artist from Bruges, he spent all his life in Italy, where he worked under the influence of the Brill Brothers and Hans Rottenhammer.
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  Cornelis van Cleve

  Virgo Lactans

  Oil on panel

  Cm 28x20

  1540 ca.

  Cornelis van Cleve, Cornelis van Cleef or Cornelis van der Beke, nickname Sotte Cleve ('Mad Cleve') (1520 in Antwerp – 1567/1614) was a Flemish Renaissance painter active in Antwerp who is known for his religious compositions and portraits. Starting his career in Antwerp in the workshop of his father Joos van Cleve, he later worked for a while in London. When he failed to achieve success in England, he became insane and stopped painting.
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  Frans Francken III

  The Temptation of St Anthony

  Oil on panel

  Cm 45x35

  1640 ca.

  Frans Francken III was the son of Frans Francken II (Antwerp1581-1642) and part of the Francken dynasty producing essentially for the open market. He was at a very young age an apprentice and a collaborator to his father, which style had a determining effect on his art. Some paintings are signed by father and son. Dr Ursula Härting1 published a painting signed and dated 1618, when he is only 12 (three other signed and dated paintings are known: 1626, Liège Cathedral; 141 and 1647). He practices in his father’s studio later as an independent master (1639) and is also a dealer and shop owner in Antwerp. Many of his paintings are signed FFFrancken or Den jon(ghen) FFrancken or DJ FFrancken f. (14 in my documentation), allowing to distinguish his ductus and style (slightly different directly derived from his father’s) from his father’s production and studio output as is the case in his Triumph of Neptune and Amphitrite in the Prado Museum. He did also staffage in paintings by Pieter Neefs, Joos de Momper and others. He collaborated on paintings also with Cornelis de Baeilleur and other members of his family. The subject ‘the Temptation of Saint Anthony’ is directly inspired by his father’s painting of the same subject signed and dated 1605, formerly in the de Maleingreau d’Hembise collection, Brussels. Frans III painted also a great number of Sabbaths with Witches (ex: Palais des Beaux-Arts sale Brussels 26.10.1976 nr 501, panel 35 x 52 cm, signed FFFrancken), derived from his father’s painting in the Alte Pinacothek München (Härting 1989, nr 409). A Sabbath sold by Mercier, Lille, 18.6.2006 nr 128, panel 44 x 66,5 cm, soldas Frans II Francken, is clearly by Frans III (after comparison with the Palais- des-Beaux-Arts painting). In the present painting, Frans III repeats precise elements from the Lille painting, such as the head of the warrior on the foreground left and the little monster with helmet. He integrates them into his father’s composition of Saint Anthony (1605).
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  Antoine Mirou

  Wooded Landscape after a Downpour

  Oil on Panel

  cm 33x49

  1610 ca.

  Expertise Luuk Pijl

  Flemish painter, member of the so-called "Frankenthal school”, a small town in western Germany which harboured many Belgians who, after the conflicts between Catholics and Protestants, did not intend to convert back to Catholicism, following the Spanish conquest of Belgium. Sources indicate that he was there between 1563 and 1621. His landscapes are attributable to the period spanning from 1602 to 1661, if the dating of the Landscape by the National Gallery of Parma is considered accurate. The composition and colours of paintings such as the Temptation of Christ (1607, Alte Pinakothek of Munich) or the Landscape with Hunter (1640, Kunsthalle of Mannheim) attest to the influence of Gillis van Coninxloo, a pivotal point of reference for landscapers of the pre-baroque style, on his work. Likewise, the influence of Velvet Brueghel can be seen in the efforts to imitate his meticulous style, refined, mutating use of colour, and the attention placed on the atmospheric effects of the light in contact with natural surfaces. Currently available data suggests that the artist has dealt with but a few themes in his work: wooded landscapes characterised by dense trees that fill the entire canvas, as well as scenes of lively village streets nestled in a rocky landscape. Our composition, with a sophisticated flavour, is rich in luminous and atmospheric accents. Great attention is placed on the rendering of the light in the clouds, which seems to suggest that a downpour has recently ended and foreshadows the sun's imminent reappearance. A slight hint of a rainbow can be noticed in the centre when viewed in backlight. The rainbow is more of a mere material spectre than a clearly distinguishable shape. The architectural composition in the centre is absolutely in "Frankenthal" taste, an imaginary cluster of houses, towers, bridges and crops, all in the middle of a lake. The clear dichotomy between human activity and the marvel of Nature is fully conveyed in the small hunting scenes that make the forest come alive. The forest is perceived as open, as if a backdrop on a theatre stage. It is worth noticing the refined touch of the grey atmosphere, aimed at suggesting the intense, cold humidity still lingering in the air and in the ground, full of water. Beyond the main scene, a woman doing laundry and a cart pulled by white horses can also be seen. Such a conception of space and landscape is the result of mental theoretical speculation which is also present in someone apparently so fond of the realistic dimension, explored through imagination, creativity and the reconstruction of elements in an ideal and dreamlike whole: the Flemish landscape by definition.
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  Sebastian Vrancx

  On the Way to Peace

  Oil on panel

  Cm 24x34

  1620 ca.

  Expertise Luuk Pijl

  Sebastian Vrancx was a famous Flemish painter active in the first half of the 16th century, renowned expert in the landscape genre, but also dabbled in the subjects of everyday life and battles. He was a member of the Guild of Saint Luke from 1611. The painting of this Antwerp-born master is distinctive for his personal style, which carefully absorbs different influences, mixed with eclectic taste in a severe, but at the same time elegant art, far from the rhetoric of Baroque taste and recognisable for a typical dryness of the stroke, suitable to create unusual and eclectic compositions. The small snowy landscape is a remarkable proof of technical virtuosity. The style of the painting is comparable to the series of Allegories of the Seasons reproduced several times by the painter, who used to repeat many of his compositions. Another useful comparison is with the Extensive Landscape in circular format, in which the use of different chromatic shades and material thicknesses of monochrome colour is typical and irrefutable to define the soil's rocky layers and the mineral veins of the landscape. Within the scenery with a wide horizon, along a winding road engraved with markedly graphic brushstrokes, a group of wayfarers armed with spears leads a herd of cattle towards the city that can be seen in the background. At the crossroads, three different structures can be seen: a mill, a votive temple devoted to the Virgin Mary and - left seals - a hill intended for different forms of capital punishment, gallows and wheel. In the outline, some magpies are sitting on two large gnarled and dry trees, while in the distance an entire flock hovering above the scene can be seen. At the bottom, where the sunlight lights up the landscape with accents of intense green, a glimpse of a rainbow can be caught. The piece, which is among those closest in style and content to Pieter Brueghel II, sparks a desire to investigate Vrancx’ interest for historical and allegorical subjects. The period of activity of the painter coincides indeed with that of the Wars of Religion (particularly, with that of the Thirty Years and the Spanish massacres in Belgium) and there are numerous examples of paintings dedicated to battles, raids by bandits and attacks on caravans, in which the themes connected to the violence of war strongly emerge. The scene depicted here, however, does not focus on a war scene or on the onslaught of brigands, but on the contrary portrays a group of men going towards the light and the city’s rainbow. At last, the war is over, making way for peace. The spears in their hands will no longer be used to attack, but to guide the cattle. At the intersection of the roads- which are those of Destiny - the Pilgrim meets Faith (represented by the wayside shrine), he leaves the War behind (the hill of torture) and sees the Mill at the gates of the city (the industrious work of Man). The Wanderer in the foreground invites us into the scene by turning towards the observer, suggesting him to approach the landscape with rapt attention. The fact that multiple levels of interpretation are left open is not surprising, as it is a traditional feature of Flemish art, which, as shown, Vrancx appreciated. Our composition, however, has not been found in other signed replicas and therefore constitutes a unique specimen in the author's catalogue. With this work Vrancx is able to combine the genre of the landscape with that of the historical and allegorical subjects in a single painting.
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  Abraham Govaerts and Pieter van Avont

  Holy Family with Angels into a Landscape

  Oil on Copper

  Cm 37x47

  1630 ca.

  Expertise Klaus Ertz

  Magnificent example of collaboration, following the widespread practice in Antwerp in the seventeenth century, between Abraham Govaerts as a landscape specialist and van Avont as a "staffage" painter, i.e. the painting of the characters. By this way the evangelical episode of the rest from the escape into Egypt becomes the expedient to stage a nature with bright colors, with rich turquoise and aqua green accents, enhanced by a vast range of naturalistic details: from the rose garden to the right, to the fruits on top. The very thin copper leaf on which the work - in perfect condition - was painted is of considerable size and it is likely that it was destined for the Spanish and Mexican market, according to a widespread commercial practice in vogue from the years '40 of the '600. Thanks to this practice the Flemish painting on copper of "brueghellian-style" had a diffusion and an unusual worldwide success. It is the undoubted ability of the "Brueghel style" to conquer the eye with such incredible ease, dissolving the most typical stylistic matter effortlessly and with infallible method, chiseling the details as in a goldsmith's work and always choosing a vibrant chromatic accord, with the objective to stimulate the gaze. The fat children who surround the Holy Family, then, add a further tone of delicacy to the scene, through an anecdotal and joyful attitude, full of "joie-de-vivre".
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  Ambrosius Francken II

  Crucifixion

  Oil on panel

  cm 64x50

  1610 ca.

  Expertise Jan de Maere

  Ambrosius Francken II, also called the younger, to distinguish him from his uncle of the same name, was born at Antwerp in the latter part of the 16th century. He studied under his father, Frans Francken the elder, whose style he imitated. In 1624 he was registered as a master in the Guild of St. Luke at Antwerp, and he is said to have painted some time in Leuven. He died in 1632. Little else is known of him.
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  Marcellus Coffermans

  Madonna with Child

  Oil on Panel

  11,6x8,4

  1560 ca.

  Expertise Marie Grappasonni

  According to Dr. Grappasonni, the composition derives from a prototype which is itself widely spread in numerous variations and replicas. The work, which draws its charm from its "postcard" size as well as from its exceptional state of conservation, is comparable to some of Coffermans' best works. The composition of the Holy Family with Angels - the only signed piece and therefore instrumental to reconstruct the pictorial corpus - clearly shows that the same physiognomic model for the Virgin Mary and Child was used. In addition, it is the unique handling of the material surfaces that proves the painter's technical ability, constantly striving to spread the style of the Flemish Primitives. The ability to render the nuanced interplay of light and shadow on the skin of the faces, the pasty Marcellus Coffermans colour ranges, the characters’ quiet composure of the sentimental moves, unite the Crucifixion preserved at the Museo Nacional de San Carlos with our Madonna: her face intimately connected to that of the Child, the tawny hair that can be noticed under the transparent veil, the crimson mantle from which a velvet dress rendered through chromatic mutations emerges, the typically tapered hands and the completely dark background, in which the characters stand out as a single metaphysical entity, are means to express the modern devotion, a particular form of Christian worship that was widespread in the Flanders in the 1500s and which called for an intense religious communion with Christ and the Virgin Mary, also by means of a fervent devotion to sacred images. This practice has very ancient roots in Nordic countries and originates from the late medieval sacred representations. To achieve their purpose the perfect realism was precisely that of Flemish art of the 1400s and 1500s, in which realistic details were accentuated and used as symbols, following the footsteps of Rogier van der Weyden and Jan van Eyck. A piece whose powerful symbolism is capable of imposing itself on the viewer with the strength of a transcendent vision, a real conquest of the Flemish art of the beginnings, which was able to combine reality and symbol like no other.
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  Monogrammist HS

  The Ill Matched Lovers with a Monk

  oil on panel, cm 28x42,5.

  We are grateful to Cranach Research Insitute and Dr. Peter Schmelzle to have confirmed the attribution of this work.

  Monogrammist HS (Active during the first part of XVII Century). Rare and enigmatic painter from Basel, a pupil of Lucas Cranach, specialized in the representation of allegorical subjects often soaked in a taste for the grotesque, erotic and enigmatic. Compared to his master, Hans Stronmayer presents harsher tones, with female bodies represented in ivory color and smooth as porcelain, with the characters depicted close to their caricature, deliberately in an anti-classical and anti-Italian key.
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  Kerstiaen de Keuninck

  Mountain Landscape with a river

  oil on panel

  cm 81x120

  1620 ca.

  This large panoramic landscape view, dominated by fantastic mountains and rock formations, is a work of the middle period of the artist and was probably painted in Antwerp. A more precise comparison can be made with the works created around the period 1610 - 1615 in Antwerp, when the artist was in close contact with Alexander Keirincx and the Francken family. The landscapes of this period were all large works of horizontal format and followed a very precise compositional scheme. A diagonal divides the work in two parts, tracing a clear division between the action in the foreground and the immense rock formations on the background. On the opposite side, the artist often placed a theatrical backdrop formed by trees, whose fronds follow an accentuated winding line. In the central area an isolated rocky pillar is often connected by natural bridges or arches with the rest of the composition. The figures, small and secondary in the whole scene, are usually sketched at a later time, when not entirely delegated to specific collaborators. The figures of Tobias and the Angel were the artist's favourites. Hunters, pilgrims and shepherds with goats were also appreciated. It illustrates his concern with contrasting pictorial effects—such as heavy passages of opaque paint set off against areas sketched in a very thin medium—and with bold motifs like the water spray formed by flicking the brush. We mention, as primary comparision examples, the Landscape with Hunter preserved in Braunschweig, which has almost an identical setting and The Rocky Landscape preserved in Vienna where several elements return in a mirror-like manner: the castle (the only difference is the castle location: on the opposite side), the creek, the shape of the woods and the foliage of the trees, as well as the goats that can be seen in the foreground.
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  Christiaen van Couwenbergh

  The finding of Moses

  Oil on panel

  cm 123x,5x118

  Signed and dated 1640

  Published:

  Wolfgang C. Maier-Preusker, Christiaen van Couwenbergh (1604 – 1667) oeuvre und wandlungen eines hollaendischen caravaggisten, ed. Wallraf-Richartz-Jaharbuch – Band LII-1991.

  We are grateful to Professor Wayne E. Franits to have confirmed the quality and the attribution of the work

  Van Couwenbergh was one of the leading Delft history painters during the first half of the seventeenth century, and his style was influenced by both the Haarlem and Utrecht history painters, as well as the Northern caravaggesque school.
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  Adam van Noort

  Madonna and Child with Saint Joseph

  Oil on panel

  79,4 x 56,8 cm

  1580 ca.

  Archived in RKD as Adam van Noort.

  Defined by Van Mander in 1604 as a "very skillful painter," van Noort is part of the Flemish painting already influenced by Italian art. He was stranger to the prevailing fashion, Van Noort managed one of the most popular ateliers in Antwerp and he was able to cope with a large number of students, including those who later became great masters such as Rubens (from 1592) and Van Dyck, who also made a famous portrait of his teacher. Known for his alternating moods, his life as a libertine and, often, his violence, Van Noort was always conscious of the limitations and skills of his students, directing their careers also through the collaboration with the atelier of Otto Van Veen. His works were mainly biblical and of allegorical disobedience and portraits made for the Sint-Lucas gilde (the author was a member) have not been preserved. The work, part of the prestigious Goudstikker collection, is considered as of today one of the most significant - and certain of attribution - still in private hands. Despite the religious subject, the scene is treated with an extreme naturalism, aiming to portray a simple mother with a child in a moment of lyrical intimacy rather than something grand and academic. The sculpted cradle, together with details such as the cushion and the string of pearls on the Madonna's forehead, are remarkable for their realistic rendering. The paneggi, the incarnate and the architectures on the background, however, are clearly of Italian influence.