- 13
Quinten Metsys
Estimate
300,000 - 400,000 USD
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Description
- Quinten Metsys
- Virgin in prayer
- oil on oak panel
Condition
The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's.
This is painted on a single unreinforced piece of oak, which is very slightly curved from left to right. The condition is remarkably good. The work has not been cleaned in many years, and has what can be considered a very attractive patina of age. Under ultraviolet light, one can see a spot or two of retouching in the lower right and in the chin. This is the kind of picture that can be lightly cleaned and varnished; if the retouches are removed, there may well be very little reason to replace them. The condition is unusually good.
"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 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."
Catalogue Note
This beautiful depiction of the Virgin in Prayer is an important addition to the oeuvre of Quentin Metsys. Dr. Annick Born and Prof. dr. Maximiliaan P. J. Martens of the Ghent Interdisciplinary Centre for Art & Science at Ghent University have examined this painting and determined it to be a fully autograph work by the artist, dateable to circa 1510-1515.1
The scientific examination has shown that this painting shares key stylistic similarities with the two main documented altarpieces by Quentin: the Saint Anne Altarpiece, signed and dated 1509, and the Saint John Altarpiece (or the Lamentation Altarpiece), executed between 1508 and 1511.2 It is also very closely related to Quentin’s Virgin in Prayer, which is the left panel of the diptych with Christ as Saviour, in the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp of circa 1505-10 (see fig. 1). Like that work, the present Virgin would have been paired with a similar image of Christ as Savior though, being in the opposite direction of the Antwerp Virgin, would have faced Christ from the viewer’s right. Metsys drew on a number of antecedents for his iconography, notably the figures of the Virgin and God the Father from the central portion of Jan van Eyck’s Ghent Altarpiece, and the bust-length figure format adapted and made popular by later 15th century artists, such as Rogier van der Weyden in his Braque Triptych.3 Such bust-length, iconic figures of Christ and the Virgin were popular objects used for personal devotion.4
In the present work, the Virgin’s full, rounded face, her slightly almond-shaped eyes and delicate eyebrows are all typical of the artist’s idealized type of female head. Also characteristic are the hands with their elongated fingers. The translucent veil, elaborately gold-trimmed mantel and ornate diadem are elements repeatedly found in Quentin’s oeuvre and can be seen as well in the Koninklijk Museum Virgin. The painting technique is also consistent with that found in Quentin’s documented works, especially the thinly painted layers of the flesh tones which allow for their extraordinary luminosity, the use of sgrafitto technique to depict the gold threads in the border of the blue mantle, and the feathering technique found on the white veil.
We are grateful to Dr. Born and Prof. dr. Martens for the information they have provided and for their assistance in cataloguing this lot. To read their full report on the present lot, please contact the Old Master Painting Department. This painting will be published in their forthcoming catalogue raisonné on the works of Quentin Metsys.
1. The painting was examined under UV-fluorescence photography (UVF), Infrared reflectography (IRR), and X-radiography (XR).
2. Brussels, Musées royaux des Beaux Arts de Belgique, inv.no. 299 and Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, inv.no. 245-49).
3. Musée du Louvre, inv. no.; see J.O. Hand, C.A. Metzger and R. Spronk in Prayers and Portraits, Unfolding the Netherlandish Diptych, exhibition catalogue, Washington and Antwerp 2006-7, p. 110.
4. See L. Silver, The Paintings of Quinten Massys, Totowa, NJ 1984, p. 196.
The scientific examination has shown that this painting shares key stylistic similarities with the two main documented altarpieces by Quentin: the Saint Anne Altarpiece, signed and dated 1509, and the Saint John Altarpiece (or the Lamentation Altarpiece), executed between 1508 and 1511.2 It is also very closely related to Quentin’s Virgin in Prayer, which is the left panel of the diptych with Christ as Saviour, in the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp of circa 1505-10 (see fig. 1). Like that work, the present Virgin would have been paired with a similar image of Christ as Savior though, being in the opposite direction of the Antwerp Virgin, would have faced Christ from the viewer’s right. Metsys drew on a number of antecedents for his iconography, notably the figures of the Virgin and God the Father from the central portion of Jan van Eyck’s Ghent Altarpiece, and the bust-length figure format adapted and made popular by later 15th century artists, such as Rogier van der Weyden in his Braque Triptych.3 Such bust-length, iconic figures of Christ and the Virgin were popular objects used for personal devotion.4
In the present work, the Virgin’s full, rounded face, her slightly almond-shaped eyes and delicate eyebrows are all typical of the artist’s idealized type of female head. Also characteristic are the hands with their elongated fingers. The translucent veil, elaborately gold-trimmed mantel and ornate diadem are elements repeatedly found in Quentin’s oeuvre and can be seen as well in the Koninklijk Museum Virgin. The painting technique is also consistent with that found in Quentin’s documented works, especially the thinly painted layers of the flesh tones which allow for their extraordinary luminosity, the use of sgrafitto technique to depict the gold threads in the border of the blue mantle, and the feathering technique found on the white veil.
We are grateful to Dr. Born and Prof. dr. Martens for the information they have provided and for their assistance in cataloguing this lot. To read their full report on the present lot, please contact the Old Master Painting Department. This painting will be published in their forthcoming catalogue raisonné on the works of Quentin Metsys.
1. The painting was examined under UV-fluorescence photography (UVF), Infrared reflectography (IRR), and X-radiography (XR).
2. Brussels, Musées royaux des Beaux Arts de Belgique, inv.no. 299 and Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, inv.no. 245-49).
3. Musée du Louvre, inv. no.; see J.O. Hand, C.A. Metzger and R. Spronk in Prayers and Portraits, Unfolding the Netherlandish Diptych, exhibition catalogue, Washington and Antwerp 2006-7, p. 110.
4. See L. Silver, The Paintings of Quinten Massys, Totowa, NJ 1984, p. 196.