Jan Janssens

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The canvas is lined and the paint layer is raised but secure. The obvious losses have been dead coloured. There has been substantial strengthening to the rest of the paint surface, very few areas have not been affected. Offered in a plain moulded dark wood frame, in good condition."
"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."

Born in Ghent in 1590, Janssens travelled to Italy, where he is documented in Rome between 1619 and 1620. He soon came into contact with the works of the already established artists Gerrit van Honthorst (1592-1656) and Dirck van Baburen (circa 1594-1624) from Utrecht. Both artists had already achieved a high level of success, and had both attracted commissions from the leading patrons of the day Cardinal Scipio Borghese and Vincenzo Giustiniani. Their financial success would not have passed Janssens by, and he was swift to emulate their style. Baburen was to exert the stronger influence, and Janssens was even to copy his compositions (and in some cases pass them off as his own). In 1621 he returned to Ghent and enrolled in the Guild of Saint Luke, and continued to produce pictures in the Caravaggesque manner, where he was to build a successful practice particularly painting altarpieces, such as the present picture, for the churches in and around Ghent. The present lot should be compared to the signed altarpiece of the Resurrection in the Church of Saint Saviour, Bruges, which is dated 1640 (see fig. 1).¹

1. Also reproduced in J. de Maere, Illustrated Dictionary of 17th Century Flemish Painting, vol. I, Brussels 1994, p. 231, reproduced vol. II, fig. 656.