LOUIS DE CAULLERY | Elegantly-dressed figures promenading in a garden and riding in gondolas, serenaded by musicians

With Dennis Vanderkar, London, by 1967;
With Galerie Robert Finck, Brussels, by 1979 (when exhibited at Maastricht, Pictura; Montecarlo, Exposition Internationale; and Florence, Mostra Mercato Internazionale, no. 24);
From whom acquired by the present owner.

London, Dennis Vanderkar Gallery, Dutch & Flemish Old Masters, Winter 1967–68, no. 21.

The panel is has a heavy cradle, and is flat and stable, with a visible join or split running the length of the panel across the middle. The paint surface is relatively clean and the varnish is only slightly discoloured. The aforementioned join or split has associated pin-prick losses and retouchings along it, and there is further visible horizontal surface splitting circa 1.5 cm. below it, most notably in the centre - including two areas where the paint surface has lifted: in the central couple, and in the marble statue on the left. Scattered discoloured retouchings are visible in the sky and in the water. Inspection under ultraviolet light reveals a thick, opaque varnish underneath which the aforementioned retouchings are confirmed. A handful of further retouchings are revealed: scattered in the seated man on the step centre right, a spot in the gondolier lower right, and an area in the hedge just above the join centre left - but it difficult to discern much else underneath the thick varnish.
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A pupil of the Antwerp artist Joos de Momper (1564–1635), Louis de Caullery specialised in depictions of courtly gatherings set variously in fantastical architectural and garden surroundings. He also painted more topographically accurate scenes, notably of Venice, where he is presumed to have travelled, and the influence of which is evident in the inclusion of the gondolas in the present painting.