Adriaen van Stalbemt

Barberini collection, Rome (though not included in any of the seventeenth-century inventories);¹

Alan Hall;

By whom sold, London, Sotheby's, 6 April 1977, lot 6, for £11,500 to Holsten;

Acquired then or shortly after by the father of the present owner;

Thence by inheritance.

R. Longhi, in Proporzioni, vol. I, 1943, p. 45 (as Elsheimer);

H. Weizsäcker, Adam Elsheimer, vol. II, Berlin 1952, pp. 8–9, no. 4, reproduced plate I, (as Elsheimer);

K. Bauch, in Kunstchronik, vol. XX, 1967, p. 59 (as possibly by Jan Brueghel);

J.G. van Gelder and I. Jost, 'Elsheimers unverteilter Nachlass II', Simiolus, vol. II/I, 1968, p. 4 (in the list of 'possible' Elsheimers);

M. Waddingham, 'Elsheimer Revised', The Burlington Magazine, vol. CXIV, 1972, p. 602 and n. 15 (remarks on stylistic similarities with Stalbemt);

K. Andrews, 'A Pseudo-Elsheimer Group: Adriaen van Stalbemt as Figure Painter', The Burlington Magazine, vol. CXV, May 1973, pp. 301, 305–06, reproduced fig. 47, (as Stalbemt).  

The copper support is perfectly flat and stable. The painting is In A remarkable state of preservation with the original fine brushwork beautifully intact almost throughout. There is a little wear and restoration in the sky. There are a few spot retouchings in the foliage of the overhanging branches of the tree upper right and just a few scattered small retouchings elsewhere. It is possible that there is a little further, earlier restoration than is immediately apparent but the varnish, now somewhat opaque in appearance, prevents a closer inspection under UV.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The subject is described in great detail in Exodus, chapters XXXV and XXXVI, when Moses relayed to the Israelites the Lord's command to build a tabernacle. Exodus, XXXVI, 8–17 describes the making of 'ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet', each with fifty loops.

This painting was long considered a work by Adam Elsheimer, and was included as such in Weizsäcker's 1952 monograph. Weizsäcker considered it to be an early work, and he linked it with other paintings thought by him to be early Elsheimers, which subsequently formed the core of Andrews' Stalbemt group. Kurt Bauch was the first to cast doubts, suggesting that it might be by Jan Brueghel the Elder (while the figures are not Brueghel-like, adhering to the Elsheimer tradition, the wooded setting is clearly influenced by him). With characteristic prescience, Malcolm Waddingham was the first to note similarities between the present picture and others in the group to be formally assembled by Keith Andrews with the work of Stalbemt. Andrews developed Waddingham's theme, assembled a group of five paintings including the present work, all but one of which had been associated with Elsheimer in the past, and proposed that they all be the work of Adriaen van Stalbemt. He found the clue that unlocked the formal connection with Stalbemt in the provenance of one of the group, a painting of Saint Paul and Barnabas at the Städel in Frankfurt, which was listed in the Lormier collection in The Hague in 1752 as by 'Stalbend'. It was still listed as Stalbemt in the Lormier sale in 1763, when bought by Coenrad van Heemskerck, but when he sold it two years later it was called Elsheimer, a name which it then retained for over 200 years. A signature, perhaps that of Stalbemt, had been erased at some point, probably during Van Heemskerck's ownership. Andrews compared the Städel painting with two signed works by Stalbemt both dated 1622, and another of 1619 in the Prado, a collaboration with Pieter Brueghel the Younger (who painted the landscape first, signing and dating it 1618). These works form a cohesive whole, and are clearly the work of Stalbemt, in the years around 1620. Andrews added additional stylistically cohesive works to the core group in his 1977 article, and observing that Stalbemt never went to Italy, wondered how Stalbemt became so clearly conversant with Elsheimer's paintings, and attempted to answer his question by suggesting that David Teniers the Elder may have been the stylistic intermediary. By the latter part of the second decade of the seventeenth century however, paintings by Elsheimer were percolating north, encouraged by Rubens and others, and it seems more likely that Stalbemt would have seen them in Antwerp at first hand. Finally, the Stalbemt group of Elsheimeresque paintings was further convincingly expanded by Ursula Härting, in 1981.²   

The present painting, and another of the group in the Schönborn collection at Pommersfelden are on copper plates of the same dimensions, and clearly belong together, either as a pair or as part of a series, since the Pommersfelden painting depicts a closely related subject: The Israelites bringing offerings for the building of the Tabernacle.³  

1. Waddingham thanks Marilyn Aronberg Lavin for this information and for suggesting that it was a later acquisition; Waddingham 1972, p. 602, n. 15. 

2.  See U. Härting, 'Adriaen van Stalbemt als Figurenmaler', Oud Holland, vol. 95, 1981, pp. 3–15.

3.  See Andrews, 1977, pp. 301, 305–06, reproduced fig. 48.