Peter de Witte, called Candid

Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck;

By whom deaccessioned, Vienna, Dorotheum, 9 November 1938, lot 243;

With Jean-Luc Baroni, London;

Anonymous sale, New York, Sotheby's, 27 January 2006, lot 31;

Where acquired by the late collector.

Candid executed this elegant depiction of Saint Margaret of Antioch in the 1570s or 1580s when living in Florence. According to the early Christian martyr's hagiography, she was swallowed by a devil disguised as a dragon, from whom she burst forth unharmed after making the sign of the cross. The beast lays vanquished at her feet as she holds a cruciform staff in one hand and a palm branch of martyrdom in the other. Originally comprising a larger devotional ensemble, the panel was once accompanied by a depiction of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, another virgin martyr widely venerated in the sixteenth century.

Although born in Bruges, Candid and his family moved to Florence when he was about ten years old and there received his artistic training. In addition to working for the Medici court, Candid contributed to the decorations of the the Sala Regia in the Vatican Palace and the cupola of the Florence Duomo. After completing three altarpieces for churches in Volterra, Candid left Tuscany for Munich, where he worked in the Bavarian courts of William IV and his successor Maximilian I.