Follower of Pieter Brueghel the Elder

Probably Auguste Coster, Brussels;
His deceased sale, Brussels, Le Roy, 4-6 April 1907, lot unknown;
Laurent Meeus, Brussels;
Acquired from the above by a private collector in 1952 or 1953, and thence by descent until sold London, Sotheby's, 8 July 1999, lot 52 (as Pieter Brueghel the Younger), when acquired by the present owner.

Probably G. Marlier, Pierre Brueghel le jeune, Brussels 1969, p. 298, no. 1 (with incorrect dimensions);
S.J. Kostyshyn, 'Door Tsoecken men vindt': A reintroduction to the life and work of Peeter Baltens alias Custodis of Antwerp (1527-1584), Unpublished Diss. Michigan 1995, vol. II, p. 631;
K. Ertz,  Pieter Brueghel der Jüngere. Die Gemälde mit kritischem ouvrekatalog, Lingen 2000, vol. II, p. 925, no. F1352a.

The following condition report is provided by Hamish Dewar who is an external expert and not an employee of Sotheby's. UNCONDITIONAL AND WITHOUT PREJUDICE Structural Condition The canvas has an old lining which is ensuring an even and secure structural support and has secured the overall craquelure pattern. There is some staining on the reverse of the canvas but no evidence of any structural instability. Paint surface The paint surface has a reasonably even varnish layer and inspection under ultra-violet light shows retouchings around all the framing edges and a number of small scattered spots and lines of inpainting across the paint surface. These are all of comparatively minimal size. There may be other retouchings beneath the varnish layers which are not identifiable under ultraviolet light. Summary The painting would therefore appear to be in good and stable condition and no further work is required for reasons of conservation although surface cleaning and revarnishing, to ensure a more even surface coating, might be beneficial.
"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 subject of the theatrical scene in the centre of the composition is the rederijjker  farce Een Cluyte van Plaeyerwater ('a clod from Plaeyerwater'). The spectators are watching the climax of the farce, when the gullible husband Werenbracht jumps from his hiding place to confront his unfaithful wife and her lover, the local priest.

The protoype for this famous composition is now lost, but its popularity is attested to by the number of extant copies, the majority associated with Pieter Brueghel the Younger and his workshop. In his recent monograph Ertz lists twenty eight versions of this design, of which he considers seven to have been painted by Pieter Brueghel the Younger, and a further thirteen - including the present work - upon which he reserves judgement or regards as open to doubt ¹. This latter group includes all the known versions that are painted on canvas as opposed to panel. The earliest dated picture is a signed panel of 1604, after which there is a gap of twenty years before the next dated work of 1624 ². In addition to these Kostyshyn lists a further five high quality versions in which the design has been reversed, and which he assigns to the hand of Pieter Balten (c.1525-c.1598) or his workshop and following ³.

Hulin de Loo and Friedländer believed that this composition must derive from a lost work by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, an argument supported by the false Bruegel the Elder signatures and date of 1550 on the present canvas ⁴.  The existence of versions by Pieter Balten, who was Bruegel's pupil and who died in 1598, would seem to support this. All of these are in reverse to that of Pieter Brueghel the Younger's versions of the composition, and include numerous differences. This points to a drawn or engraved source for both Balten's and Brueghel's paintings, almost certainly by or after Pieter Bruegel the Elder. It is more probable in any case that the Elder's work rather than that of Balten was the source of Pieter Brueghel the Younger's knowledge of the design. Kostyshyn, however, argues that the primacy of design is due to Balten, and regards the prototype as the unsigned panel today on loan to the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam,  from the D.V.R.K in the Hague ⁵.

 

 

 

1. Ertz, op. cit., pp. 923-927, cat. nos. 1338-1365.
2. Ibid., cat. nos. E1338 and E1346.
3. S.J. Kostyshyn, op. cit., pp. 630-633 et passim, lists five such versions and eighteen versions in all connected to the Brueghel workshop.
4. Marlier, op. cit., p. 298, no.2, lists another of 1556(?).  Ertz, however, seemingly records the same picture as his catalogue E1338 as having a Pieter Brueghel the younger signature and date of 1624.
5. Kostyshyn, ibid., vol. II, p. 629, cat. no. 35, vol. III, figs. 74-80.