Guillaume Courtois, called Guglielmo Cortese, Abraham Brueghel

F. Trimnell, Avening Court, Tetbury, Gloucestershire;
His deceased sale, 3-5 October 1972, lot 375;
With B. Cohen and Sons, London;
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 8 December 1972, lot 83 (as Luca Giordano and Abraham Brueghel) for 4,200 Guineas to Fine Arts;
J. Paul Getty, Sutton Place, Guildford, Surrey;
Bequeathed to the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 1978;
By whom de-accessioned, New York, Christie's, 21 May 1992, lot 36, where acquired by the present collector.

D. Graf and E. Schleier, "Guglielmo Cortese und Abraham Brueghel", in Pantheon, XXXI, January-March 1973, no. 1, p. 56, reproduced p. 55, fig. 11;
D. Graf, "Handzeichnungen van Guglielmo Cortese und Giovanni Battista Gaulli", in Kataloge des Kunstmuseums Düsseldorf, vol. III, 2/1, 1976, vol. I, p. 45, under cat. nos. 75-79;
L. Salerno, La natura morta italiana, Rome 1984, p. 190;
F. Zeri, La natura morta in Italia, Milan 1989, vol. II, p. 794, reproduced fig. 936;
L. Salerno, Nuovi studi su la natura morta italiana, Rome 1989, p. 82, reproduced fig. 73;
L. Trezzani in G. & U. Bocchi, Pittori di Natura Morta a Roma, Artisti Stranieri 1630-1750, Viadana 2005, p. 125, reproduced p. 130, fig. AB.12.

The colours in the catalogue illustration are far too bright. The painting is less contrasted, cooler and more subtle in tone than it appears in the reproduction. The painting has not been restored for some time but seems to have been cleaned more recently. The canvas has an old lining which appears to still hold well. The texture of the paint is lively and largely unaffected by the lining, though the lighter areas appear slightly pressed, particularly the figure of Ceres where the canvas weave shows through. On the far left side there is a 4 in. extension which may not be original, though it does appear to be old (and there is cusping along the far left edge). This strip of canvas may have been added to give the putti on the far left a little more space, or perhaps it was added to fit the painting into its current(?) frame. It was not possible to view the painting under ultra-violet light but the paint surface does not appear to have been significantly retouched, and the losses that one sees with the naked eye are in fact the only areas that may require restoration. There are losses along and near the vertical join at the left edge, a few visible spots in the legs of the cherubs in the centre, in the legs and feet of the floating cherubs holding the garland, an area in the lower left corner, in the left bicep of Ceres and also on her cheek. There are a few other isolated, unrestored losses elsewhere but this painting appears to be generally well-preserved, particularly for a painting on this scale. The paint layer could be cleaned further and the losses referred to above retouched. The still life elements, particularly those in the foreground, are for the most part beautifully preserved. The later simple gilt wood frame with decorated inner fillet has 2 cracks or joins on the top edge, and again in the same place on the bottom edge, suggesting that the frame may have been reduced at some point to fit the painting.
"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."

This impressive painting is a collaboration between Courtois, who painted the figures, and Brueghel, who executed the flowers, fruit and landscape.  Both artists were stranieri who spent most of their careers in Italy; Courtois originally from France and Brueghel a member of the famous Flemish dynasty of painters.  This type of collaboration between artists with different specialties was a common practice in Rome.  In a series of letters that survive from the second half of the 1660s between Abraham Brueghel and the Sicilian collector Antonio Ruffo, Brueghel writes in detail about his working methods and the artists he collaborated with such as Courtois, Giovanni Battista Gaulli (called il Baccicio) and Giacinto Brandi.  Though a chronology is difficult to establish, Trezzani (see Literature) dates this series of collaborative works from the mid-1660s to around the time that Brueghel departed for Naples in 1675.

There are five known preparatory drawings by Courtois for this canvas in the Kunstmuseum, Düsseldorf.  Four are for the figure of Ceres: two Studies of the Legs and Feet (both black chalk heightened with white on blue-green paper, one 273 by 400 mm. (see fig. 1); the other 229 by 401 mm.); a Study of the Upper Figure, an Arm and a Hand, red chalk heightened with white on blue-green paper, 272 by 417 mm. (see fig. 2); and a Study of an Arm and the Legs, black chalk heightened with white on blue-green paper, 268 by 416 mm.).  The fifth drawing is for the putto holding the basket of fruit (black chalk heightened with white on gray- brown paper, 357 by 243 mm.).