The Master of the Female Half-lengths

Baron Alphonse de Rothschild (1827 - 1905), Paris;
Baron Edouard de Rothschild (1868 - 1949), Paris;
Confiscated by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg, Paris (inventory R96);
Hermann Göring (acquired February 8, 1941 as Quintin Metsys, inventory RM721);
Recovered by Allied Monuments Men and returned to France September 20, 1946 (MCCP 6731);
Restituted to Baron Edouard de Rothschild;
Baroness Batsheva de Rothschild (1914 -1999), Tel Aviv;
Her deceased sale, London, Christie's, 13 December 2000, lot 23 there purchased by the present owner for £91,750.    

 

N. Yeide, Beyond the Dreams of Avarice, Dallas, 2009, pp.111 and 328, cat. no A730,  reproduced (as Quintin Metsys).      

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting has been quite recently restored and should be hung as is. The panel has been cradled. Under ultraviolet light three or four retouches are visible in the forehead, in a couple of spots in the bridge of the nose and on the left side of the chin. In the white fabric on the Magdalen's sleeve and in her left fingers there are a couple of losses and there are also a few spots in the lower red cloak, yet other than this there are no further visible damages. It is not possible to tell from examination either using ultraviolet light or to the naked eye whether or not there are restorations in the black background, presumably there are a few but overall the condition is extremely good.
"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 present panel is typical of much of the work of this unknown artist, who seems to have specialized in small scale paintings in a courtly style, depicting elegant women reading, writing or making music in intimate interior settings.  Stylistically close to the Bruges painters such as Adriaen Isenbrandt, the Master is more typically associated with the city of Antwerp.  Although a greater number of devotional, mythological and landscape paintings have been recently attributed to his hand, the Master is still most well-known for his sumptuously dressed, demure female figures.

This composition may be compared with other works by The Master of the Female Half Lengths, in which the Magdalen is depicted holding a similar ornate vase. Two such works are: a work formerly in the Schevitch collection, and subsequently sold in a Parisian auction in 1906, lot 7; and another in the collection of Prince Salm-Salm at Schloss Anholt (see M.J. Friedländer, Early Netherlandish Painting, vol. XII, 1975, p. 98, nos. 82-3, plate 41).