French School, 17th Century, Circle of Claude Deruet

This fascinating and enigmatic series of Allegories of the Four Seasons, symbolized by four young women, is sometimes attributed to Claude Deruet and his circle in Nancy, sometimes to Jacques Linard because of the presence of still lifes in the view of Michel Faré (see M. Faré, Le Grand siècle de la nature morte en France, Fribourg 1974, pp. 22-23), who compares these works to the art of Louise Moillon, and is also reminiscent of the art of Claude Vignon. Additionally, an ensemble of female portraits, grouped together under the mysterious name of Jean Ducayer, all display a very similar type, with pale complexions and idealized facial features; these seem particularly close to the present figures.

Other versions of these works exist, sometimes grouped together (Veritas sale, Lisbon, 13 December 2021, lot 26), sometimes singly (for example Spring, Sotheby’s New York, 25 January 2008, lot 258, interpreted at that time as a Portrait of a Woman as Flora). This suggests production by a workshop active in about 1610.