SALOMON KONINCK | Susanna and the Elders

Private collection, France.

The actual painting is a bit less bright and more tonal than the catalogue illustration would suggest. The canvas has been relined. The painting seems to be in a good condition. The painted surface is covered with dirty and discoloured varnish layer. Some of the craquelure pattern, which is coarse in places, has been filled in or retouched in the tree area upper center and in the upper left background. We notice some minor paint losses around the edges, some of them have been retouched. A small retouched indent is visible to the right edge above the balcony. Otherwise the colors of the clothing of the figures seems to be nicely preserved. Some thinness is visible in the left upper background and in the right darker part, some minor retouchings and strengthening, foremostly of he craquelures can be seen. The painting would greatly benefit from a thorough restoration. Under UV light The varnish layer fluoresces almost completely and only shows some minor retouchings upper left along Suzanne’s left arm, in her red cloth and to the right of her right leg. Some others in the lower right foreground. Offered in a carved and multicolor-painted wooden frame, some chips and damages. Le tableau est en réalité légèrement moins lumineux et plus contrasté que sur l’illustration au catalogue. Le tableau a fait l’objet d’un rentoilage (récent, à la colle) et la toile est un peu trop tendue. Le tableau semble en bon état. Il se présente sous un vernis sale et jauni. Le réseau de craquelures, par endroit très larges, a été comblé ou restauré dans les arbres en haut au centre et dans le fond en haut à gauche. La matière est tassée par endroits, peut-être à cause du rentoilage. On remarque quelques légers manques de matière le long des bords, dont certains ont été restaurés. Un petit enfoncement est visible sur le bord droit au-dessus du balcon. Les couleurs des habits des personnages sont bien préservées. Quelques usures sont visibles en haut à gauche dans le fond et dans les parties sombres à droite ; on observe de légères restaurations et renforcements principalement dans les craquelures. Le tableau bénéficierait largement d’une restauration générale. A la lampe UV Le vernis est presque totalement opaque, et ne laisse apparaître que de très légères restaurations en haut à gauche le long du bras gauche de Suzanne, dans son étoffe rouge et à droite de sa jambe droite, ainsi que dans le fond en bas à droite.
"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."

This unrecorded painting is an exciting new addition to the œuvre of Salomon Koninck, Rembrandt's contemporary in Amsterdam, and has only very recently been (re)discovered in a French private collection. This Susanna and the Elders was painted in the early to mid-1640s, when Koninck was at the pinnacle of his career. By this time the artist had also fully absorbed the influence both of Rembrandt, with whose work he must have been familiar, and of the Leiden fijnschilders. While the stimulus of the former can be seen, in particular, in the strong chiaroscuro effects and facial types, the influence of the latter is more noticeable in the rendition of the fabrics and metallic objects to which the artist has typically devoted special attention, in particular the meticulous rendering of all the tiny highlights on Susanna's drapery. Koninck painted two different treatments of Susanna and the Elders: in the present painting, with its magnificent grand-scale composition, Susanna is depicted with soft facial features and semi-clothed in a rich dark-red velvet cloth. The two old men appear like real characters from the ancient Middle East in their attire and headdresses. Another example of this type was in the Schloss Schönbrunn sale in 1930 (1). The other treatment shows a Susanna semi-clothed in white and the elders seen with the characteristic white beard often employed by Koninck, like in his famous Gold-weigher in the Museum Boijmans, Rotterdam; an example of the latter variant, dated 1649, was with Salomon Lilian Gallery, Amsterdam (2).

In 1609 Salomon Koninck was born in Amsterdam, as the son of a goldsmith originally from Antwerp, and was a nephew of the landscape painter Philips Koninck. When Salomon was around twelve years old in 1621, he was apprenticed to David Colijns and to Francois Venant. From 1630 he became member of the Amsterdam branch of the Guild of Saint Luke. Koninck moved in the circles of the academy of Hendrick van Uylenburgh and certainly around Rembrandt, making many copies of the latter's compositions. He married the daughter of fellow artist Adriaen van Nieulandt, Abigael, in 1638, and was later to marry the sister of the winter landscape artist Anthonie Verstralen, before his death in Amsterdam in 1656.

Dr. David de Witt and Dr. Volkert Manuth have both kindly and individually fully endorsed the attribution to the artist on the basis of photographs.

(1) Schloss Schönbrunn sale, Berlin, 24 February 1930, lot 37, illustrated; oil on canvas, 144 x 102 cm. 
(2) Signed and dated 1649, oil on panel, 45 x 38,2 cm; W. Sumowski, Die Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler, Landau 1987, vol. III, p. 1644, no. 1095, reproduced.