Cornelis de Vos

In the collection of the family of the present owner since the 18th century.

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The canvas is lined and the paint layer is raised and unstable, with two vertical seams and an addition to the upper left edge. There are many restored paint losses across the surface and abrasion to the glazes leading to a loss of definition to some of the finer features. There is the remains of an old varnish in the interstices of the paint. In essence, the painting is in a good condition with areas of paint where the texture is well preserved. Removing the varnish would improve the tonality. Offered in a plain wood slip, in good condition."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This monumental canvas, which has not been seen in public for at least three hundred years,  is an important addition to the oeuvre of Cornelis De Vos and, given its size and grandeur, must have been the subject of one of the artist's most significant commissions. In view of its size and early Spanish provenance, it is likely that the original commission was made directly from Spain; indeed, there is evidence of the artist's connection with the Spanish market when, in 1627, probably just prior to the execution of this work,  De Vos and his workshop executed an important series of portraits of Phillip IV of Spain, Archduke Albert and Isabella, Henry III of France and Henry IV and his wife Marie de Medici (all untraced), all intended for export to Spain.  

We are grateful to Drs. Katlijne van der Stighelen for endorsing the attribution to De Vos on the basis of photographs. Drs. van der Stighelen has proposed a date of execution circa 1625-35.  During this period De Vos painted fewer portraits and concentrated more closely on history painting, producing many large canvases filled with numerous characters and often including several episodes side by side. Other large works from this period, to which this lot may be compared, are his Triumph of Mars of circa 1626-30 in Braunschweig, Herzog Anton Ulruch-Museum,¹ and his Zadok annointing King Solomon in Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum.² Distinct compositional similarites with De Vos' earlier treatment of the subject in Antwerp, Musée Royal des Beaux-Arts, should also be noted; the Antwerp canvas is smaller and, with the present lot, De Vos has expanded the composition dramatically on either side of the central holy figure group.³

 

1. See R. Klessman, Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum Braunschweig. Die flämischen Gemälde des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts, Braunschweig 2003, p. 112, no. 1037.
2. See Die Gemäldegalerie des Kunsthistorisches Museums in Wien, Vienna 1991, no. 726, reproduced plate 427.
3. See E. Greindl, Cornelis de Vos, Brussels 1944, p. 37, reproduced fig. 79.