SIMON DE VOS | The Massacre of the Innocents

Anonymous sale, Antwerp, Bernaerts, 21 October 1996, lot 110;

With Rafael Valls, London, 1997-2001, from whom acquired.

A. Blankert et al, Jezus in de Gouden Eeuw, exh. cat., Zwolle and Rotterdam 2000, p. 69, reproduced in colour;

W. Pijbes, M. Aarts, M.J. Bok et al, At Home in the Golden Age, exh. cat., Zwolle 2008, p. 104, cat. no. 105, reproduced in colour;

H.-J. Raupp (ed.), Niederländische Malerei des. 17. Jahrhunderts der SØR Rusche-Sammlung, vol. 4, Historien und Allegorien, Münster/Hamburg/London 2010, pp. 452-56, cat. no. 78, reproduced in colour.

Simon de Vos studied with Cornelis de Vos (1584-1651), to whom he was not related, in Antwerp from 1615 until 1620, and spent some time in the studio of Rubens. He specialised in courtly genre scenes reminiscent of his Dutch contemporaries Dirk Hals (1591-1656) and Pieter Codde (1599-1678) until about 1640, after which time he turned his attention towards historical and religious themes.

The present work, dated 1647 and depicting the Massacre of the Innocents, is a typical example of this period. Another treatment of this subject by Simon de Vos was sold at Sotheby's London on 17 April 1996, lot 72.¹

1 Sold as one of a pair, oil on copper, 54 by 70 cm.