Willem van Nieulandt the Younger

Laurent Meeus (1872–1950), Brussels;

From whom acquired by the father of the present owners.

The following condition report is provided by Hamish Dewar who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's: Structural Condition The panel has been cradled and this is ensuring a secure structural support. Paint Surface The paint surface has very discoloured varnish layers as well as a number of fine horizontal lines of discoloured retouching, which are most evident in the blue pigments of the sky. The painting has the potential to be transformed by cleaning and I would be confident of a great improvement to the overall appearance once the discoloured varnish layers have been removed. There are a number of fly spots in the upper left of the sky and slight frame rubbing around the outer edges. There is a pattern of fine lines of largely horizontal craquelure and maybe hairline cracks in the paint surface. These correspond to the discoloured retouchings mentioned above. Inspection under ultra-violet light confirms how discoloured the varnish layers have become. The only retouchings identifiable under ultra-violet light are the fine horizontal lines in the sky mentioned above and a few other very small scattered retouchings including one in the upper right corner and a very small retouching between the pillars of the ruins in the upper right of the composition. There may be other retouchings beneath the discoloured varnish layers which are not identifiable under ultra-violet light. The fine detail of the figures and architecture appear to be extremely well preserved. Summary The painting would therefore appear to be in very good and stable condition, with the potential to be transformed by cleaning, restoration and revarnishing.
"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."

After training with Jacob Savery in Amsterdam, Willem van Nieulandt the Younger went to Rome in 1602–03, one of the earliest of the Northern seventeenth-century painters to do so. There he studied with his uncle, Willem van Nieulandt the Elder, before serving an apprenticeship with Paulus Bril, who operated a sort of artistic finishing school for his fellow Netherlanders. Van Nieulandt settled in Antwerp by 1605, but in later life lived in Amsterdam. His Roman experience laid the foundation of his subsequent career. He produced some 115 engravings of Italian subjects, predominantly of classical ruins in Rome, based on drawings he made there.

Van Nieulandt’s antiquarian interest is powerfully manifest in this picture, which is one of his finest. The subject is set before an array of Roman structures, including to the left the Pyramid of Caius Cestius, engraved by Van Nieulandt as part of a series of 19 prints, and to its right is Trajan’s Column. In the foreground lies a substantial Corinthian capital. The style of the figures is reminiscent of the Pre-Rembrandtists, and it seems likely that this picture was painted after Van Nieulandt  settled in Amsterdam. 

The figure in a green cloak and makeshift turban in the right foreground immediately above the artist’s signature is a most likely a self-portrait (see detail).