Studio of Quinten Metsys Leuven 1466 -1530 Kiel near Antwerp

With Robert Finck, Brussels, from whom bought by the present owner.

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The oak panel is in good condition apart from minor hairline splits to the panel shoulder, left, where there has been a small repair. The paint layer is stable. There has been abrasion to the gilded background and the ground is visible through it in parts. The red pigment of the lower left sleeve of the Madonna's has been compromised and retouched. There are minor retouched losses to the flesh tones and the transparent veil of the Madonna , and her hair beneath has been abraded and strengthened, as have some of the shadow's of the flesh tones. The varnish is moderately discoloured."
"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."

The composition is known in a number of versions, all of which are of differing degrees of quality and all of which appear to be by different hands. Hitherto unpublished, this is amongst the most accomplished of the versions. Although none are now considered autograph works, several have variously been attributed to Metsys in the past; E. Voigtländer, in 1922, and Max J. Friedländer, in 1929, attributed to him the version in Oslo, National Gallery,¹ although Friedländer later rescinded his support, grouping it stylistically with the version in Basel, Burckhardt-Bachofen collection², which he considered possibly by the Master of the Mansi Magdalene. In terms of setting, the present work is closest to the version in Ghent, Musée des Beaux-Arts³, which is also set against a gold ground and the figures fill the picture plane to the same extent. Other versions variously include the figure of St. Joseph anda  landscape or window in the background. The design was also used by Jan Gossaert, for example in his Holy Family in Houston, Museum of Fine Arts.⁴

1. See A. de Bosque, Quentin Metsys, Brussels 1975, pp. 138-9, reproduced p. 300, fig. 141.
2. Idem, p. 137, reproduced p. 299, fig. 139.
3. Idem, p. 139, reproduced p. 301, fig. 144.
4. Inv. no. 59-27; see M.J. Friedländer, Early Netherlandish Painting, vol. VIII, Leiden/Brussels 1972, p. 96, no. 42, reproduced plate 38.