Salomon de Bray

Charles de Wailly, before 1788;
His sale, Paris, Boileau, 24 November 1788, lot  37;
Where acquired by Meunier, according to a note in the sale catalogue;
With Schweitzer Gallery, New York;
Anonymous sale, New York, Christie's, 18 May 1994, lot 7;
Where acquired by the present owner.

Haarlem, Frans Hals Museum, Painting Family:  The De Brays, Master Painters of 17th Century Holland, 2 Feb.-22 June 2008, and London, Dulwich Picture Gallery, 9 July-5 Oct. 2008, no. 11. 

Possibly J.W. von Moltke, "Salomon de Braij," in Marburger Jahrbuch für Kunstwisssenschaft, 11/12, 1938 and 1939, p. 389, no. 117;
P. Biesboer, et. al., Painting Family:  The De Brays, Master Painters of 17th Century Holland, (ex. cat. Haarlem, Frans Hals Museum, 2 Feb.-22 June 2008 and London, Dulwich Picture Gallery, 9 July-5 Oct. 2008), Zwolle 2008, pp. 56-57, no. 11, reproduced.

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 recently restored and should be hung as is. The panel has a cradle on the reverse which seems to be nicely stabilizing the surface. The panel is made from two sections of oak joined horizontally through the upper background. The numerous details, particularly in the lower portion of the picture, are in very good condition and although the varnish is opaque under ultraviolet light, it appears that apart from retouches applied to the original panel join and to the white priests and other clergy, there are no other restorations visible under ultraviolet light. It is highly unlikely that there are any numerous retouches beneath this opaque varnish, yet nonetheless there may be some.
"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."

Although he is best remembered today as a painter, Salomon de Bray was also a designer, architect, urban planner and poet who played an important role in various cultural institutions in Haarlem.   In addition to serving on the boards of numerous guilds and civic organizations, de Bray was actively involved in a number of architectural projects and pursuits.  In 1627, for example, he received payment for a set of sketches of the Zeylpoort in Haarlem; and in 1631, he published his Architectura moderna, a collection of engravings with descriptions of the most important buildings designed by Hendrik de Keyser.  Given his demonstrable interest in architecture, it is somewhat surprising that the current painting is one of only two known architectural interiors by de Bray.  The other work, View into a Temple, also known as The Presentation of Mary in the Temple, is considerably earlier in date than the present work (circa 1630-1635) and was last recorded on the Berlin art market in 1933.  In contrast to the work of his contemporaries, such as Pieter Janz. Saenredam, de Bray's paintings do not depict contemporary Dutch churches, but rather explore and reconstruct structures from the antique.   

The subject of the present painting comes from the Old Testament Book of Kings (1 Kings 10), which recounts the story of the Queen of Sheba's visit to King Solomon. Here, the Queen and her retinue can be seen in the foreground, on the steps of the temple, with King Solomon standing next to her in a rich red robe, golden cloak and white headdress.  They watch as Solomon's priests perform burnt offerings to the Lord in the sanctuary beyond.  The temple itself, however, is the true focus of de Bray's attention.  It is immediately recognizable by the large, named, bronze columns that de Bray has prominently depicted in the foreground.  These columns are mentioned in the description of the temple given in the Book of Kings:  "He erected the pillars at the portico of the temple. The pillar to the south he named Jachin ('He Shall Establish') and the one to the north Boaz ('In Him Is Our Strength')."¹  Beyond these details, however, de Bray's temple is quite different from the one of cedar and gold that is described in the Bible.²  De Bray's temple is fully classical, constructed of veined marble, complete with pilasters topped with Corinthian capitals and a carved cherubim entablature.  The artist's departure from the temple's description must be intentional, especially given the existence of a model based on the biblical sources that was created by the artist's Haarlem contemporary, Jacob Jehudah Leon, who was a Dutch-Jewish rabbi and member of the same elite cultural circles as the artist.³ 

A recent article in The Burlington Magazine by Quentin Buvelot and Friso Lammertse can shed new light on the small number inscribed at the extreme bottom left of the image.⁴  Using a female study by de Bray currently in an American private collection, the authors have been able to recreate the inventory system de Bray used to track his artistic output.  On the reverse of that painting, Bust of a Young Woman in Profile, the panel is inscribed 46 / 1636. / 4 / 14. De Bray numbered the work "46" and dated it 14 April 1636.  What is more, we know the next work he created has to be Judith with the Head of Holofernes (Museo del Prado) because it bears the number 47 / 1636 / 4 / 25 on the reverse.⁵  These serial numbers not only make it possible to put the artist's work in chronological order, but also make it possible to determine the number of works created in a given year, or within any given period of time.  Although the number on the present work seems to be incomplete, the 57 / 6 / 5 / does allow us to pinpoint the date of completion for this work to 5 June 1657, much later than the works discussed in Buvelot and Lammertse's article.⁶  This shows that the artist continued to use the system throughout his career, and is tantalizing for the possibilities it opens to scholars hoping to reconstruct his output in its entirety.  

This painting will be included in Friso Lammertse's forthcoming catalogue raisonné on Salomon de Bray. 


1.  1 Kings 7:21
2.  For a full description of the Temple of Solomon, see 1 Kings 6-7. 
3.  Biesboer, op. cit., p. 56.
4.  Q. Buvelot and F. Lammertse, "Numbered Paintings by Salomon de Bray," in The Burlington Magazine, vol. CLII (June 2010): pp. 390-392.
5.  Ibid., 391-392.
6.  It seems plausible to assume that before it was cradled, the reverse of the panel bore a full inventory number, thus placing the work definitively within its chronological timeframe.