Pieter Neefs the Elder Antwerp 1578(?) - after 1656/61 and Frans Francken the Younger Antwerp 1581 - 1642

Given to the present owner by the late Duchess of Portland.

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The original oak panel has been transferred. There are several splits visible to the original panel, top, middle and bottom . These have been restored. The paint layer is raised and unstable in parts. Under UV light can be seen evidence of a previous restoration campaign of quite some intensity. This restoration was applied to reduce a heavily abraded paint surface and some paint losses."
"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 same church interior (which is often identified as Antwerp cathedral) with a similar grouping of figures, also signed and dated both by Francken and Neefs, is in the Utton Easson collection, England.¹  Although signed by Frans Francken the Younger, some of the figures may have been added by a painter in his workshop.

1. See U. Härting, Frans Francken der Jüngere (1581-1642), Freren 1989, p. 376, no. 471, reproduced p. 375.