Workshop of Sir Peter Paul Rubens

A.P. Visscher, Basel;
Max Flersheim, Paris, by 1918;
Mrs. Nelson E. Nordquist;
By whom sold, New York, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 7 June 1978, lot 164 (as by Studio of Rubens);
There purchased by Emile Wolf, New York;
Thence by descent to the present owners.

M. Jaffé, Catalogo Completo Rubens, Milan 1989, pp. 227-8, cat. no. 427, reproduced (as the best known version of this composition, see note below).

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 work has not been recently restored. The copper is flat, although the surface is slightly uneven. The figures are in quite impressive condition, with a possible exception of the shadowed areas of the thigh and waist of Bacchante. There is a scratch in her right elbow, and some damage in the upper left of the sky. Some old losses are partially visible in the lower right and upper right. If the picture were cleaned, these losses would become more apparent. At present, there are no retouches to speak of. Although the panel is slightly uneven, the condition and quality of the work is very good, and it would respond well to careful restoration.
"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."

Engraved: Voet (see M. Rooses, Rubens, Sa vie et son oeuvre, Antwerp 1890, vol. III, p. 94, cat. no. 611bis).

In his seminal catalogue raisonné of Rubens’ work, Michael Jaffé describes this refined copper as “la migliore versione nota di una composizione di Rubens documentata da un’incisione in controparte di Alexander Voet (fig. 1)”.¹   Indeed the composition is known in versions of varying quality, of which the present example appears to be the finest extant example. Another of this exact type includes a panel sometimes given to Victor Wolfvoet formerly in the collection of Prince Serge Koudacheff, St. Petersberg, as well as a now lost example (possibly the prime version) in the Paris collection of the Duke of Richelieu.  As is often the case with Rubens and his prodigious workshop operation, figures and studio models are utilized in modified compositions, as is the case here with the devilishly mischievous satyr who directly engages the viewer whilst holding a bountiful basket of fruit. The same figure is found in an upright Two Satyrs of circa 1618-19 in the Munich Alte Pinakothek (fig. 2, inv. 873), as well as a Satyr and Maiden with Basket of Fruit from circa 1615 in the Schönborn-Buchheim Collection.

1. trans: "The best known version of a composition by Rubens documented by an engraving in reverse by Alexander Voet". See Literature, Jaffé 1989, p. 227.