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Premium Master of female half-figures (Active in the Southern Nether…
See original version (French)
Master of female half-figures (Active in the Southern Nether…
See original version (French)
Lot no. 48
Description
Master of female half-figures (Active in the Southern Netherlands between 1500 and 1530)
The Holy Family, after Raphael
Oil on oak panel with a curved top, three boards
An old label giving the painting to Bernard van Orley 'Bernard van Orley / pupil of Raphael / (notta) this painting comes from the / famous gallery of J.P. Weyer / of Cologne under the n° 276' on the verso
The Holy Family, oil on oak panel, by the Master of the Female Half-Lengths
34.84 x 25 in.
88.5 x 63.5 cm
Provenance: Collection of Johann Peter Weyer (1794 - 1864), Cologne ;
His sale, Cologne, 25-30 August 1862, under the direction of Johann Mathias Héberlé (H. Lempertz), no. 276 (as Bernard van Orley)
Bibliography: Horst Vey, "Peter Weyer, seine Gemäldesammlung und seine kunstliebe", Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, 28, 1966, p. 222, no. 122
In this moving composition, Peter Weyer reinterprets La Sainte Famille, known as the Great Holy Family of Francis I, painted in 1518 by Raphael (fig. 1, INV. 604, Musée du Louvre, Paris), adapting it to the Flemish world. The latter painting had been offered to the King of France by Pope Leo X in the same year it was painted. This is a particularly interesting fact, as it tells us something about the possible presence of our artist in Paris, or more generally in France, in the years 1520-1530. The Flemish home in Paris, at Fontainebleau or on the banks of the Loire, was just as important as the Italian home, as the recent exemplary exhibition Francis I and the Art of the Low Countries1 revealed. Artists' travels often depended on the protection and relationships they enjoyed with leading figures in the course of their careers. The Brussels-born Bernard van Orley, nicknamed the "Flemish Raphael", also used the main motif of the Virgin and Child in a painting now in the Prado Museum.
Our artist - although his exact identity is still unknown to us - was certainly active in Mechelen in the cultured and refined milieu of Margaret of Austria, ruler of the Netherlands from 1518 to 1530, but also in Antwerp. The curving at the top of our panel is typical of Antwerp Mannerism of the same period. Influenced by Ambrosius Benson and Adriaen Isenbrant, he nonetheless developed a style similar to his own, marked by a genuine softness of colour. Although he is an easily identifiable artist because of the small "doll-like" heads that are sometimes a little repetitive in his paintings, our panel nevertheless shows that he can be a very talented artist. Our panel nevertheless shows that he can give each of his characters a close, intense psychology. While the draperies probably reveal the collaboration of assistants, the quality of the figures and the marvellous state of conservation of our beautiful oak panel underline the immense talent of our painter.
The great collector Johann Peter Weyer (1794-1864), fig. 2, made no mistake in acquiring our painting, which was included in his famous after-death sale. An architect for the city of Cologne between 1822 and 1844, he made his fortune through judicious stock market and property investments, which gave him the opportunity to collect on a grand scale: with almost 600 paintings by the greatest artists, he was one of the biggest collectors in Germany in the 19th century. A philanthropist, in 1846 he had a luxurious gallery (fig. 3) built adjacent to his house in the centre of Cologne to make his collection accessible to a wide audience of art lovers. Two years before his death, he found himself ruined by ill-advised investments and was forced to sell his possessions. Our painting was number 276 in the sale of his collection, which took place in Cologne between 25 and 30 August 1862 under the gavel of Heinrich Lempertz of Herbele.
1- François Ier et l'art des Pays-Bas, exhibition in Paris, Musée du Louvre, 18 October 2017-15 January 2018.
Master of Female Half-Figures (Active in the Southern Netherlands between 1500 and 1530)
88.5 x 63.5 cm
See original version (French)
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