Cornelis de Vos

Private collection, Milan, 2010;

Collection Bernard Descheemaeker - Works of Art, Antwerp.

Cornelis de Vos (1584/1585–1651) made his name as one of the most important portrait painters in the southern Netherlands in the seventeenth century. He trained with David Remeeus and became a master of the Guild of St Luke in Antwerp in 1608; he was named its doyen in 1628. Heading a large workshop, he varied his activities by working as an art dealer, travelling in Europe and collaborating regularly on collective decorative schemes with other Flemish artists such as Rubens, Jordaens, Jan Wildens and Frans Snyders.

He was one of the most sought-after portraitists in the city, especially for his portraits of families and children of the local bourgeoisie, taking an innovative approach by presenting them in a natural way rather than as little adults. He paid great attention to the rendering of detail, especially textiles, for which he used a warm palette. However, during the 1630s, he gradually turned more towards the painting of historical and religious scenes, in response to growing demand from his contemporaries.

These two male figures have been identified by Hans Vlieghe and Katlijne Van der Stighelen as the fragment of a work from this period by Cornelis de Vos. They would have formed part of a larger composition, cut down on the right and now lost. While the subject remains unknown, it is probable that it would have been a mythological or religious scene, perhaps taken from the Old Testament. The figures bear witness to the descriptive approach Cornelis de Vos took in his work. He offers meticulous attention to detail, a vibrant palette, and careful treatment of the foreground figures and their clothes, who stand in the manner of a horizontal frieze. Compared with the works of his contemporary Rubens, his style is less dynamic, the atmosphere more controlled and less dramatic.

Finally, some parallels can be drawn with other works by the artist. The figure on the right may be compared to Artemisia drinking from the goblet with the ashes of Mausolus (Tajan Paris, 12 September 1999, lot 28), a mythological scene described by Pliny the Elder, Aulus Gellius and Valerius Maximus. This individual also appears in the Adoration of the Magi (Sotheby’s, London, 10 July 2008, lot 146), in the figure facing the Virgin. They both have the same facial features, beards, corpulence and pink silk clothes. Meanwhile, the man dressed in red and blue in our composition, leaning on his cane, resembles the figure on the extreme left of King David Giving Instructions to Solomon on his Death Bed (Christie’s London, 27 April 2007, lot 83) and in the Adoration of the Magi after Cornelis de Vos (Utrecht, Museum Catharijneconvent, BMH s1853).V