小楊·布呂赫爾

Walter John Montagu Douglas Scott (1894 – 1973), 8th Duke of Buccleuch, 10th Duke of Queensberry;
Mrs. R. Peto;
Mrs. P. Sanguinetti (née Peto);
By whom sold, London, Christie's, 26 November 1971 (as by Jan Brueghel);
With H. Terry-Engell Gallery, London, 1972;
From whom acquired by the father of the present owner. 

The Burlington Magazine, vol. CXIV, no. 831, June 1972, reproduced in color, plate  XIX (as by Jan Brueghel the Elder);
K. Ertz, Jan Brueghel der Ältere (1568–1625). Die Gemälde mit kritischem Œuvrekatalog, Cologne 1979, pp. 204, 571, cat. no. 83, reproduced p. 205, fig. 246 (as possibly Jan Brueghel the Elder);
K. Ertz and C. Nitze-Ertz, Jan Brueghel der Ältere (1568–1625). Kritischer Katalog der Gemälde, vol. II, Lingen 2008–10, p. 756, cat. no. 373, reproduced (as possibly Jan Brueghel the Elder). 

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This work is obviously in extremely good condition, and the quality is similarly remarkable. It is painted on a single piece of oak. The reverse is clean and shows no reinforcements. The panel is flat and the paint layer is stable. The varnish is slightly dull. The work is probably slightly dirty. Retouches are clearly visible under ultraviolet light in the shirtless figure in the river in the lower right, in the center right to the left of the large tree trunk, in a couple of other spots in the trees in the center left, and in a few isolated dots in the far distance on the left.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This minutely rendered and luminous wooded landscape sets the stage for a depiction of Latona and the Lycian Peasants. The story is recorded in Ovid’s Metamorphoses (Book VI, v. 317-381), which tells of Latona, a daughter of the Titans Phoebe and Coeus. Such was Latona’s beauty that she captured the devotion of Jupiter, thus becoming one of his lovers. Together they had Diana and Apollo. Upon discovering her pregnancy, Juno, Queen of the Gods and Jupiter’s wife, furiously exiled Latona, and furthermore cursed any land that facilitated the birth of Latona and Jupiter’s unborn offspring. Thus began Latona’s arduous journey to find refuge, eventually discovering the island of Delos where she gave birth. Latona ultimately settled in Lycia, in present day Turkey, and while passing through she stopped at a stream to quench her thirst. Upon viewing her, a group of territorial peasants prohibited her from drinking, and accosted her and her children as further offense. In her desperate anger, she cursed the peasants, transforming them into frogs and thus condemning them to a lifetime of bottom feeding and river dwelling. The scene which Brueghel depicts here is the very moment of transformation, as Latona grasps her infant offspring whilst simultaneously casting the shifting peasants back into the water.

The composition is known in other versions: one being a signed and 1601 dated example in the Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt, which has tentatively been given to Jan Brueghel the Elder (Ertz 2008-2010, cat. no. 372).  Another, given to Jan Brueghel the Younger, was sold London, Christie’s, 3 December 2013, lot 31 (for $318,591).