Lot 141
  • 141

Studio of Bernard van Orley

Estimate
40,000 - 60,000 GBP
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Description

  • Bernard van Orley
  • the lamentation of christ at the foot of the cross, with a donor
  • oil on oak panel

Provenance

Sir William Russell;
From whom bought by L. Lesser;
From whom bought on the 28th of February 1888 by Ralph Brocklebank, Haughton Hall, Cheshire (according to label affixed to the reverse);
His deceased sale,  London, at Christie's, 7 July 1922, lot 92 , as Lucas van Leyden, for 290 Guineas to Agnew's;
With Thomas Agnew's, London;
Sjöstrand, Stockholm;
Anonymous sale, Stockholm, Bukowski's 1970;
Anonymous sale, Stockholm, Nordén, 1996, where bought by a private collector;
By whom sold, Uppsala, Auktionskammare, 8 June 2010, lot 42.

Exhibited

London, New Gallery, Winter Exhibition, 1899 – 1900, as Lucas van Leyden.

Literature

M.J. Friedländer, Review of Winter Exhibition 1899 – 1900, in Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft, vol. XXIII, 1900, p. 255R;
R. Carter, Pictures & engravings at Haughton Hall, Tarporley: in the possession of Ralph Brocklebank, 1904, pp. VIII and IX; p. 33, no. 25, reproduced fig 9 (photo engraving by Allen & Co)(as Lucas van Leyden).
M.J. Friedländer, Early Netherlandish Painting, vol. VIII, Leiden 1972, p. 106, no. 116, reproduced plate 106 (as Bernart Van Orley);
J.D. Farmer, Bernard van Orley of Brussels, unpublished dissertation, 1981, p. 106 (as late studio work).

Condition

The stable flat support appears to consist of four vertical panels cradled to the reverse. The paint surface is clean, secure and in good condition, with the colour and detail of the painting well-preserved. Some of the brown tones are slightly abraded, especially in the leaves of the tree to the right. The panel joins are visible in raking light and do appear to have been retouched but this work seems to have been very senstively applied. Inspection under UV light is impeded by the reflective varnish covering the work, but does confirm the retouchings along the panel joins, and further reveals two squares of retouching to the upper left and upper right hand corners, measuring approx. 5 by 7 cm. abd 6 by 6 cm. respectively, a rectangle of retouchings between the forehead of the donor to the landscape just left of the head of the female saint, measuring approx. 5 by 15cm. and a final rectangle measuring approx. 10 by 6 cm, which includes the Virgin's knees and Christ's right hand shin. Further older retouchings are also discernible to Christ's body and other areas of flesh tones, but the remainder of the painting, particularly the landscape, seems to remain largely untouched. Offered in a gilt wood frame in good condition, if a little rubbed.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

This panel, which had earlier been attributed to Lucas van Leyden, was identified as by Bernard van Orley by M.J. Friedländer, after a visit to the Winter Exhibition of 1899–1900 in London.1 He recognised the composition as also appearing in one of the roundels illustrating the Seven Sorrows of the Virgin surrounding the Mater Dolorosa in Orley's painting, now in the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp.2   Another version of this composition is in the Palazzo Colonna, Rome (where it functions as a pendant to a painting with the Seven Joys of the Virgin).3 Of this latter composition, more than nine various versions are known.

The paintings of the Seven Joys and Seven Sorrows of the Virgin are generally believed to be late works by the artist, from the 1520's. This panel, which shows the characteristic stylistic features of the later painterly style, was probably painted, as Farmer (op. cit.) has suggested, in the final years of the studio's production. For comparison, a late autograph work is the triptych of the Crucifixion painted for the Cathedral in Bruges, where a similar composition as in the present panel appears in the lower part of the right wing. Both this and the present lot include the characteristic large figures set close to the picture plane confronting the beholder directly with their emotions and of this element in the present work R. Radcliffe Carter wrote: "a gruesomely dramatic rendering of its subject with all the objective resources of tragic representation employed – the gaping, mortifying wounds, the literal aspect of death in the Christ, and the helpless, lachrymose misery of the Virgin. How human and how typical of the gloomier Northern mind. The perfect technical finish of this work is not its least remarkable quality."4

The present panel was probably painted in the studio of van Orley as an independent work for private devotion- hence the inclusion of the female donor which may have been added to order some time after the completion of the painting itself.


1.  See Friedländer, under Literature, 1900.
2.  See Catalogus Schilderkunst Oude Meesters, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen, Antwerp 1988, p. 275, no. 521, reproduced; also Friedländer, under literature, 1972, p. 104, no. 95, reproduced plate 96.
3.  See E. Safarik, Catalogo Sommario della Galleria Colonna in Roma, Rome 1981, p. 101, no. 138, reproduced; also Friedländer,1972, p. 104, no. 94, reproduced plates 94-5.
4.  See under literature, 1904.