Lot 48
  • 48

Jan van Bijlert

Estimate
80,000 - 120,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Jan van Bijlert
  • An allegory of the sense of smell
  • oil on canvas

Literature

P. Huys Janssen, Jan van Biljert, Catalogue Raisonne, Amsterdam 1998, p. 128, cat. no. 69, reproduced p. 244, plate 24 (as whereabouts unknown).

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 work on canvas has an old European glue lining, which still seems to be useful. The paint layer is stable. Very slightly raised horizontal lines of cracking are still visible. The paint layer is noticeably un-abraded, and all of the details seem to be very well preserved. Retouches have blanched in the figure and are visible in the torso. There are undoubtedly a few retouches elsewhere in the background beneath old varnish and presumably even in a few spots in the dog, as this black color very often develops thinness. The condition is generally good, and the work will certainly respond very well to cleaning.
"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

First published in 1998 by Paul Huys Janssen, this painting was known to him until recently only through photographs preserved in the Longhi archive, Florence (see Literature).  The subject depicted is almost certainly an allegory of smell.  The dog, an animal known for its acute sense of smell, leaps into the lap of the nude towards the rose which strains on its stem as it blooms, suggestive of a heady perfume.

Dr. Huys Janssen tentatively suggests that the painting, which likely formed part of a series of the Five Senses, may have been one of those offered as a prize in a shooting competition held in Delft in 1631.  The contest was organised by the archers' association and according to contemporary documents there were some twenty-five prizes for the winners, most comprising silver pieces.1  The first prize, however, was a series of the Five Senses, worth 600 guilders, painted by five different Utrecht masters, Bloemaert, Moreelse, Ter Bruggen, Honthorst and Bijlert.2

We are grateful to Dr Huys Janssen for reconfirming the attribution on the basis of a color image.

1. See P. Huys Janssen, under Literature, p. 207. 
2. Ibid.