Attributed to Pieter Brueghel the Younger and Studio

Anna Kann, Amsterdam, circa 1850;
Thence by descent in the family.

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 not been restored for many years. It is painted on an oak panel made from four sections of wood joined horizontally. The panel is cradled and is flat, and the paint layer is stable. Despite the fact that some of the foliage has discolored, as is so often the case, the condition throughout the painting is unusually good. The painting will clean very well and apart from retouching being required along the three original joins in the panel, the first running through the trees in the distance, the second running through the center and the third running through the knees of the dancing figures in the foreground, very little other restoration will be required. There is a line of retouches addressing old losses running through the center of the panel, but this does not appear to relate to an original join.
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This hitherto unrecorded picture exists in many versions which can be associated with Pieter Brueghel the Younger. Among this extensive group, approximately half have been accepted by Klaus Ertz as clearly autograph.¹ The present work appears to have been executed in Brueghel's studio. Whether Brueghel himself executed parts of the work remains unclear, though it is certainly plausible. Interestingly, this version is one of the largest versions of this particular composition.

The theme itself probably derives from a now lost work by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, known only through an engraving by Pieter van der Heyden. Despite the clear connection between the present work and the lost prime version, the present composition contains less figures, which as a result creates more overall space and less congestion among the figure groups. Additionally, the vast majority of the versions by Brueghel the Younger, including the present work, are shown in reverse of the engraving, which suggests that they ultimately derive from the lost painting directly, rather than from van der Heyden's engraving.

 

1.  See K. Ertz, Pieter Brueghel der Jüngere (1564-1637/38).  Die Gemälde.  Mit kritischem Oeuvrekatalog, Lingen 2000, vol. 2, pp. 684-96, 722-736, nos. E 916-944 (E = Echt, meaning authentic), nos. F 945-979 (F = Fraglich, meaning doubtful); the remainder are A numbers (A = Abgeschriebene, meaning de-attributed), many reproduced.