Abraham Janssens the Younger

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 on copper is in lovely condition. The panel is flat and the paint layer shows no signs of instability. The reverse is unreinforced. Within the figure, the only restoration of any note is on the edge of the arm to the right of the breast, where a loss of about half an inch by a quarter of an inch has been retouched. There are no other retouches in the face, torso or hair. There are a few spots of retouching in the white satin on the lower left edge. The condition is particularly good, and the work should be hung as is.
"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."

The allegorical figure of Spring, Flora, appears here as a voluptuous lady with golden flowing hair, draped only in a shimmering white and blue trim silk dress with one breast exposed. She wears an elaborately abundant floral headdress, as well as am elegant pearl necklace and single pearl earing. This depiction corresponds with the description of Flora, goddess of flowers, under the heading of the season of Spring in Cesare Ripa’s Iconologia of 1603 (translated into Dutch in 1644). The entry cites a description from Giovanni Andrea dell'Anguillara’s translation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses: '…decked with red, white, yellow flowers. / Her cheeks blush with Milk and Roses, / Her teeth are white as pearls. Coral sways about her lips: / She is decorated with flowers…'¹ Abraham Janssens the Younger became a Master in the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke in or around 1636 and also worked as an art dealer. After the death of Janssens the Elder in 1632, he took over the running of his father's workshop. The present work is likely to date from the mid 1630s, prior to his departure for Italy in 1639. Like his father, Janssens travelled to Rome and studied antique sculpture and the art of Michelangelo and Raphael. He lived and worked in the city for a period of about ten years up to 1649, at one point residing with his friend, the Dutch landscape painter Johannes Lingelbach.² In contrast to the more tenebrist style of his father, however, the Younger's independent paintings display an elegance and grace which reflect the work of perhaps Antwerp’s most influential painter, Sir Peter Paul Rubens. In fact, the verso of this high quality piece of copper is inscribed with a period attribution to Rubens, bearing the inscription P^.RVBENS^.F, a clear sign as to the high regard with which the work has traditionally been held.

The design of the present work reflects the popularity of the female personifications of the Flora produced by Janssens and his workshop. While this is the highest quality known version in a bust-length format, other full length versions which also feature Cupid and a background landscape include, for example, that sold together with an Allegory of Autumn, New York, Sotheby’s, 14 October 1992, lot 104. It has been suggested that the flowers in this composition may have been painted by Jan Brueghel the Younger, who was married to Janssens’ sister Anna Maria (c.1605–after 1668).

1. C. Ripa, Iconologia, of Uytbeelding des verstands, (trans. and ed., D. Pietersz. Pers) Amsterdam 1644, p. 506: '…Met root, wit geel gebloemt bespreet. / Van Melck en Roosen bloost haer wangh, / Haer tanden zijn als peerlen blanck. / ‘t Korael rontom haer lippen swiert: / S’ is met een bloeme-krans geciert…'
2. The artistic personality and work of Janssens the Younger will be more widely covered in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of works by Abraham Janssens the Elder, prepared by Dr. Joost Van der Auwera.