Cornelis Engebrechtsz.

Pelletier collection, Paris, 1885;
With Weinberger, Paris, 1931, by whom sold to
Charles Fabri;
Thence by descent to the present owners (offered, London, Sotheby's, 19 April 1989, lot 25, & New York, Christie's, 6 April 2006, lot 20, estimate $350,000-450,000, unsold).

Paris, Musée du Louvre, Exposition des Orphelins d'Alsace-Lorraine, 1885, no. 489;
Utrecht, Centraal Museum, Noord-Nederlandsche schilder- en beeldhouwkunst voor 1575, 1913, no. 166.

M.J. Friedländer, Altniederlänische Malerei, Leiden 1932, vol. X, p. 131, no. 88, reproduced plate 88;
G.J. Hoogewerff, De Noord-Nederlandse Schilderkunst, The Hague 1936-47, vol. III, p. 202, & vol. V., p. 133, no. 31 (as 'workshop');
E. Pelink, "Cornelis Engebrechtsz. De herkomst van zijn kunst", in Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek, vol. II, 1948-9, p. 53;
M.J. Friedländer, Early Netherlandish Painting, vol. X, Leiden 1973, pp. 40, 79, no. 88, reproduced plate 71 (as Cornelis Engelbrechtsz.);
W.S. Gibson, The Paintings of Cornelis Engelbrechtsz., New York & London 1977, pp. 265-6, no. 85 (under 'Miscellaneous School Pieces').

The following condition report is provided by Sarah Walden, who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting is on a solid oak panel cradled probably early in the last century. There has been flaking in the past: in the sky, around the top of the cross, in the drapery of the Madonna and of St John the Baptist, in St John the Evangelist’s hair and the nearby landscape in the centre and in the foreground at lower right. A certain amount of incipient flaking can still be seen mainly in the sky, with a little raised paint also in the face of the angels and of the Madonna. Many areas are beautifully preserved, with parts such as Mary Magdalen’s brocaded robe exquisitely intact and complete in every final glaze. Her green drapery has suffered presumably from the copper resinate glaze having been worn in cleaning. There is some heavy retouching also around her head and hair. The areas with old flaking mentioned above have been broadly retouched including the Madonna’s drapery. The back of the hair of St John the Evangelist is rubbed and overpainted as is that of St John the Baptist. The browns also of the shadows on Christ’s body, His beard and His hair as well as of the cross itself are rather heavily reinforced, as is the tree trunk on the left. There is light retouching in the drapery of St Peter and the sky has retouching from an earlier period (less visible under ultra violet light). The head of the angel on the right is finely intact, while that on the left has been retouched, but both their floating drapery is in beautiful condition, as are almost all of the faces, with the lighter flesh painting in the figure of Christ and much other exceptionally fine detail across the painting. This report was not done under laboratory 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."

Though influenced to some extent by the Antwerp Mannerists, Cornelis Engebrechtsz. was active in Leiden in the North Netherlands.  The cornerstones of his oeuvre are two triptychs painted for the Augustinian convent of Mariënpoel in Oegstgeest, just outside Leiden, a Lamentation of circa 1508 and a Crucifixion of circa 1517-22.  The ten plus years between these two key works provide the rough outline for a chronology of his other works, including this one.

Walter Gibson published this work as a School piece on the basis of 'bad illustrations', but from better photographs including details, he revised this opinion which he considered in retrospect to be too harsh, concluding that it is "a work from Engebrechtsz's own hand, with some workshop intervention, such as in the head of the Magdalene, unless that has suffered from overpainting" (letter, 10th April 1997).

Following an inspection at first-hand in April 1998, both Professor Gibson and Dr. Jan Piet Filedt Kok concluded that it is an authentic work, possibly painted between 1510 and 1520.  They plan to include it as such in their forthcoming catalogue raisonné entitled Cornelis Engebrechtsz. - A Sixteenth Century Leiden Artist and his Workshop to be published by Brepols.