Circle of Joos van Cleve

The panel is uncradled and slightly bowed from right to left. There are two vertical joins that run from top to bottom on either side. Overall the paint surface is very well preserved and there is excellent detail and strong coloration throughout. Examination under UV light reveals some retouching along the joins: on the left side this includes on the elaborate gilt object down through red sleeve, book and down through table; on the right side this includes the left side of the clock and down through his arm and the candlestick. There are some other areas of retouching that can be seen in the green tablecloth, on the left side of the hat, and along the lower edge. A few smaller cosmetic retouches can be seen on the skull and hand above, his face and one in sky. The painting is presentable and can be hung in its present state. Offered in a plain silvered frame.
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The composition is based on a type popularized by van Cleve, of which a large number of variants and replicas originated in the artist's studio and circle.¹ The composition was not strictly of Van Cleve's own invention, but was based on Albrecht Dürer's Saint Jerome, painted in 1521 for Ruy Fernández de Almeida, Ambassador of King John III of Portugal, now in the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon. The present picture was almost certainly executed in Antwerp circa 1540, as it prominently features a number of typically Antwerp mannerist decorative objects in fashion at the time, notably the ornate gilt hanging clock and standing candlestick. 

1. See M.J. Friedländer, Early Netherlandish Painting, vol IX (part I), Leiden 1972, pp. 31, 58, under cat. nos. 39 and 40, reproduced plate 57.