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11 - 11. Atelier d'Albrecht Bouts (Leuven 1452-1549)

Estimate €30,000 - €50,000

Description

11. Atelier d'Albrecht Bouts (Leuven 1452-1549) Le Christ de douleur oil on panel 40,7 x 29.6cm (16 x 11 5/8in). Provenance Collection of M. Gustave d'Hondt, Belgium With Galerie Libertas, Bruges, 2010 Literature V. Henderiks, Albrecht Bouts (1451/55-1549), Brussels, 2011, pp. 249, 251, ill. 224, p. 332, note 201, p. 391, no 147 Valentine Henderiks suggests the present work was executed by a member of Albrecht Bout's workshop in the first quarter of the 16th century. She notes that the precise contouring of the hands and facial features; the modelling of the flesh tones and the delicate organic red lake highlights in the mantle are characteristic of Bouts and his workshop. Bouts specialised in small scale devotional images, of which a number of versions of the present composition are known to exist, with the prototype thought to be the central panel of the triptych Christ Crowned with Thorns, formerly in the collection of the New York Historical Society and sold at Sotheby's, New York, 12 January 1995, lot 8. An IRR examination of the present panel, undertaken by Valentine Henderiks and the IRPA in Brussels in 2008, reveals underdrawing entirely typical of works by Bouts and his workshop and suggests the use of a pounced cartoon (see Literature, ill., pl. 225). Whilst the prototype provided the essential design, workshop collaborators introduced subtle variations to individual versions. Such modifications, mostly to Christ's expression and the positioning of his head, may be interpreted as an effort to provide patrons with works that, while deriving from a successful devotional image, retained a degree of individuality and thus enhanced the workshop's competitiveness in the market.

About the sale From Antwerp to Bruges, the Collection of a Flemish Connoisseur

Auction location

Auction time 11/04/2026 at 11:00 AM

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