Follower of The Master of the Brussels Adoration

Auguste Michot, Brussels;
His (deceased) sale, Brussels, Dillen, 8 December 1924;
Acquired at the sale by Baron Coppée;
Thence by descent.

Brussels, Exposition d’Art Ancien, Noël dans l’art ancien, 18 December 1941 – 6 January 1942, no. 9;
Tokyo, Tobu Museum of Art, The World of Bruegel. The Coppée Collection and Eleven International Museums, 29 March – 25 June 1995, no. F7. 

G. Marlier, Pierre Coeck d’Alost, Brussels 1966, p. 404;
S. Leclercq et al., La Collection Coppée, Liège 1991, pp. 24–25, reproduced;
M. Wilmotte, in the catalogue of the exhibition The World of Bruegel. The Coppée Collection and Eleven International Museums, Tokyo 1995, pp. 164–65, cat. no. F7, reproduced.

The panel is uncradled with a very slight bow. The painting is in excellent overall condition beneath a thick layer of discoloured varnish. There are a few scattered discoloured repairs and handful of tiny old losses.
"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."

The design follows the central panel of a triptych of the Epiphany today in the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, and very probably issued from the same workshop.¹ Marlier grouped this Master among the followers of Pieter Coecke van Aelst, and noted that the design went back to the central panel of a triptych by Jan van Dornicke formerly in the Barcilon Collection in Paris.² Likewise, the Coppée panel may well have originally formed the central panel of a triptych, but a similarly isolated or independent panel of this design from the same workshop is in the Museum in Dessau (inv. no. 258).

1. Inv. no. 376. Reproduced in Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique. Catalogue inventaire de la peinture ancienne, Brussels 1984, p. 340.
2. See Marlier, under Literature, p. 137, fig. 62.