Property from the Estate of Ambassador J. William Middendorf II, Rhode Island
Bartholomäus Bruyn the Elder
Portrait of a gentleman, half-length, wearing a black coat with fur collar, holding a letter; Portrait of his wife, half-length, wearing a black dress and cape with gold belt, holding a red and gold bead rosary
Auction Closed
December 4, 01:51 PM GMT
Estimate
40,000 - 60,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Property from the Estate of Ambassador J. William Middendorf II, Rhode Island
Bartholomäus Bruyn the Elder
Wesel or Cologne 1493–1553 Cologne
Portrait of a gentleman, half-length, wearing a black coat with fur collar, holding a letter; Portrait of his wife, half-length, wearing a black dress and cape with gold belt, holding a red and gold bead rosary
the former inscribed with his age and dated: 49 / ANNO 1533
the latter inscribed with her age and dated: 42 / ANNO 1533
a pair, both oil on oak panel, framed as arches with the corners and margins made up
each unframed: 33 x 23.8 cm.; 13 x 9⅜ in.
one framed: 40 x 30.5 cm.; 15¾ x 12 in.
the other framed: 40.3 x 30.8 cm.; 15⅞ x 12⅛ in.
(2)
The Hon. Mrs. Westenra;
By whom sold ('The Property of the Hon. Mrs. Westenra'), London, Christie's, 4 December 1964, lot 80 (as workshop of Barthel Bruyn), for 3,200 guineas to Colnaghi;
With Colnaghi, London;
From whom acquired by a European private collector;
By whom anonymously sold ('The Property of a European Private Collector'), London, Sotheby's, 6 December 2018, lot 106;
Where acquired.
Bartholomäus Bruyn the Elder (1493–1555) founded an important school of portraiture in Cologne, where there was previously no such tradition. Trained in the workshop of Jan Joest van Kalkar (1450–1519), which he entered in 1505, he was profoundly influenced by the art of the Low Countries and in particular by the artists Gerard David (1460–1523) and Geertgen tot Sint Jans (active c. 1455/65–1485/95), and established himself as the foremost painter of the city’s patriciate. Bruyn himself was actively involved in civic life in Cologne (he was elected to the city's auxillary council in 1518 and 1521), and the city's mayors, lawyers, scholars and public officials made up his clientele.
These likenesses, dated 1533, are typical of Bruyn's more stylised portraits, set against a bright, plain background, with attention to detail in the figures' clothing and accessories. The rosary depicted in the female portrait, serving as a conventional emblem of piety and domestic virtue, appears in a number of other works by Bruyn, such as that dated 1531, recorded in the collection of Freiherr von Ketteler-Harkotten, Schloss Schwarzenraben.1
1 H. Westhoff-Krummacher, Barthel Bruyn der Ältere als Bildnismaler, Munich 1965, p. 114, no. 22, reproduced p. 115.
You May Also Like
