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Lot Essay
The Archduke is shown centre left; standing holding his hat, to the right is a self-portrait of his court painter, David Teniers II, to the left at a table, an engraver (?) - as yet unidentified - holding a print of a river goddess (?). The Archduke is about to inspect eight paintings stacked before him, one of which is held by a page; he will also no doubt inspect the prints - recently made perhaps - on the table behind him. On the walls are some of the Italian and Netherlandish paintings in his collection. On the lintel, centre left, is an inscription 'TIMORE DOMINI', above is a medallion portrait of the Archduke in profile, set in a sculpted cartouche, decorated with palm fronds.
The paintings displayed have been thoroughly described in the entry on the Museo Lzaro Galdiano replica by Daz Padrn and Royo-Villanova, op. cit., no. 3.; an edited version of follows (brief references to owners earlier than the Archduke, in particular Bartolomeo della Nave and the Marquess, later 1st Duke of Hamilton, and to the Theatrum Pictorium are more fully explained later in the text). Reading from the top left, relying on the key, the paintings are:
1.
An Alpine Landscape with Muleteers, the frame inscribed 'MomperFBrevghel' [Joos de Momper (Antwerp 1564-1635) and Jan Brueghel I (Brussels 1568-1625 Antwerp) or II (Antwerp 1601-1678) to what the F refers remains as yet obscure]; the prototype has not been identified; Speth-Holterhoff, op. cit., p. 143, wrongly suggested that it is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum (no. 664).
2.
Portrait of Polyxena Spinola, Marquesa de Legans, the frame inscribed 'AVDyck' [Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)]; after van Dyck's portrait in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., for which see E. Larsen, The Paintings of Anthony van Dyck, II, p. 250, no. 615, or more probably a replica, otherwise unrecorded.
3.
The March of Silenus, the frame inscribed '.P.P. Rubbens' [Sir Peter Paul Rubens (Westphalia 1577-1640 Antwerp)]; after the picture by Rubens in the Palazzo Durazzo Pallavicini, Genoa, for which see M. Jaff, Rubens Catalogo Completo, 1989, no. 216, or after a replica; the same work was copied in Teniers' Gallery of the Archduke at Schleissheim, for which see Daz Padrn and Royo-Villanova, op. cit., no. 2.
4.
A Still Life of Fruit and a Roemer (the right hand part only of which is visible), the frame inscribed 'D.Heem'; probably intended to be Jan Davidsz. de Heem (Utrecht 1606-1683/4 Antwerp); the prototype has not been identified; perhaps it was in the collection of the Duke of Hamilton.
5.
A Wooded Landscape, the frame inscribed 'I Foqveel'; no artist with this name is recorded, intended was probably Jacques Fouquires (Antwerp 1590/91-1659 Paris); the prototype has not been identified nor is there apparently any other record of it.
6.
Landscape with the Sacrifice of Abraham, the frame inscribed 'HBol.' [Hans Bol (Mechelen 1534-1593 Amsterdam (?))]; the whereabouts of the prototype is not known, but it is probably to be identified with no. 685 of the 1659 inventory of the Archducal collection.
7.
Portrait of a Lady holding a Weasel (?), the frame inscribed 'Titianvs' [Titian (Cadore c. 1490-1576 Venice)]; the prototype, to be considered as the work of a follower of Titian is still in the Kunsthistorisches Museum according to H. Wethey, The Paintings of Titian, II, The Portraits, 1971, p. 187, no. 4, under X-112; the prototype was also copied in the Prado Gallery of the Archduke, for which see Daz Padrn and Royo-Villanova, op. cit., no. 1, and was depicted in reverse in two other renderings in Schleissheim and Munich, for which see ibid., no. 2 and fig. 11, and was engraved in the Theatrum Pictorium etc., no. 94; it was acquired with the collection of the Duke of Hamilton and was no. 197 of the 1659 inventory of the Archducal collection, see ibid., p. 84, no. 10.
8.
Portrait of a Young Man, the frame inscribed 'P.V.Mol.' [Pieter van Mol (Antwerp 1598/9-1650 Paris)]; the prototype by Pieter van Mol may have been that at Althorp which is signed and dated 1635; the same work was depicted in Teniers' Interior of a Picture Gallery of 1635 (see Klinge, op. cit., no. 22) and in that at Raby Castle; the former included a self-portrait of the artist at work, and may therefore have been in Teniers' collection. Margret Klinge has suggested that Teniers may have sold it to the Archduke, (ibid., p. 52, under no. 22); a hypothesis not necessarily challenged by its presence in the Raby Castle picture, for which see Speth-Holterhoff, op. cit., pp. 155-157 and pl. VI, which shows another artist at work. It seems not to have been included with the collection taken by the Archduke to Vienna as it is not recorded in the 1659 inventory.
9.
The Infants Jesus and Saint John the Baptist embracing, the frame inscribed 'B.Orley.' [Bernard van Orley (Brussels 1488-1541)]; for versions of the prototype, deriving from Leonardo da Vinci, from the workshop of Joos van Cleve, see M.J. Friedlnder, Early Netherlandish Painting, with comments and notes by H. Pauwels, IX, part I, 1972, p. 57, no. 37. No other record of the prototype seems to be known; it was not in the collection taken to Vienna by the Archduke as it is not in the 1659 inventory.
10.
The Parable of the Blind leading the Blind, the frame inscribed '.Fetti.' [Domenico Fetti (Rome 1588/9-1623 Venice)]; Fetti's prototype is in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden, and is recorded there in 1742, having been previously in the Imperial Collection at Prague; it was probably painted for Duke Ferdinando Gonzaga and was acquired by the Duke of Buckingham (1628) probably through Daniel Nys; acquired from the Buckingham collection in Antwerp in 1649 by the Archduke, in the 1659 inventory of whose collection it was no. 153; for a full account, see E. Safarik, Fetti, 1990, pp. 90-93, no. 23. The prototype was also depicted by Teniers in the Gallery of the Archduke at Munich, see Daz Padrn and Royo-Villanova, op. cit., fig. 11, and was engraved as no. 210 in the Theatrum Pictorium.
11.
The Nativity, the frame inscribed '.L.V.L.' [Lucas van Leyden (Leiden 1494-1533)]; the prototype, one of several versions, in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, no. 5.878, is now attributed to Michiel Sittow (Reval [now Talinn] c. 1468-1525/6), not to Lucas van Leyden, as it was in Teniers' time, and is thought to derive from a lost prototype by Hugo van der Goes.
12.
Portrait of a Nobleman, the frame inscribed 'I.Tintoret.' [Jacopo Robusti, il Tintoretto (Venice 1517-1694)]; the prototype is not known, nor is there apparently any other record of it.
13.
Judith with the head of Holofernes, the frame inscribed 'Car.Vinisiano.' [Carlo Saraceni, called Veneziano (Venice c. 1579-1620)]; the prototype (see A. Ottani Cavini, Carlo Saraceni, 1968, pp. 125-126) is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, no. 41, and was acquired by the Archduke (his inventory of 1659, no. 211) with the collection of the Duke of Hamilton (for which see below). Teniers depicted it in other renderings of the Archducal collection: at Brussels, for which see Daz Padrn and Royo-Villanova, op. cit., fig. 6; Munich, see ibid., fig. 11; and Petworth, see ibid., fig. 8. It was engraved as no. 39 in the Theatrum Pictorium; Teniers' modello for the engraving ...........
14.
SS George and Rosalia, the frame inscribed '.I. Bellini.' [Giovanni Bellini (? 1431/6-1516 Venice)]; the prototype, the left hand lower section of the San Cassiano altarpiece by Antonello da Messina, is lost; the central portion (made up of three sections) is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, no. 2, 574; the Archduke owned one other part, the St George, which is also lost; these had been in the collections of Bartolomeo della Nave, when still correctly attributed, and of the Marquess of Hamilton (for which see below), see Daz Padrn and Royo-Villanova, op. cit., pp. 95-6, no. 14, and pp. 102-103. The present fragment was listed in the inventory of the Archducal collection of 1659, as no. 141, and was engraved as no. 67 in the Theatrum Pictorium, see Daz Padrn and Royo-Villanova, op. cit., fig. 59b; Teniers' modello for which is in the ......
15.
Susannah and the Elders, the frame inscribed '.C. Schut.' [Cornelis Schut (Antwerp 1597-1655)]; the whereabouts of the prototype is not known, a similar work of different proportions is recorded as having been offered at the Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels, 17/19 November 1953, lot 191; the prototype does not appear the inventory of 1659 of the Archduke's collection, and was therefore probably not taken by him from Brussels.
16.
Salome with the head of Saint John the Baptist, the frame inscribed '.I.V. Hocke.' [Jan van den Hoecke (Antwerp 1611-1651)]; the whereabouts of the prototype is not known. The artist was Teniers' predecessor as pintor de camara to the Archduke, and although nineteen of his paintings are in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, the present work was not included in the inventory of 1659 of the Archducal collection, and was therefore probably not taken from Brussels to Vienna.
17.
Christ on the Way to Calvary, the frame inscribed '.G. Bassano' [Gerolamo da Ponte, called Bassano (Bassano del Grappa 1566-1621 Venice)]; the prototype is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, no. 1, 869, where similarly attributed. It was in the collection of Bartolomeo della Nave and then that of the Marquess of Hamilton (for which see below); it is listed as no. 222 of the 1659 inventory of the Archduke's collection, and was engraved as no. 155 in the Theatrum Pictorium.
18.
The Holy Family with SS Magdalen and the Infant Baptist, the frame inscribed '.Palma.' [Jacopo Palma, il Vecchio (Serina, nr. Bergamo 1479/80?-1528 Venice)]; the prototype is in the Uffizi through an exchange in 1793 from the Imperial collection. It has been identified in the della Nave collection and in that of the Duke of Hamilton (for which see below); it is no. 231 of the 1659 inventory of the Archduke's collection and was included in the Theatrum Pictorium of 1660 (see Daz Padrn and Royo-Villanova, op.cit., fig. 61).
19.
The Toilet of Venus, the frame inscribed '.A. CORRESIO.' [Antonio Allegri, il Correggio (Correggio 1489?-1534)]; the whereabouts of the prototype is not known; it was in the collection of the Duke of Hamilton (for which see below), and is no. 231 of the 1659 inventory of the Archducal collection and was engraved in the Theatrum Pictorium, see ibid., fig. 50. Teniers also included it in other depictions of the Archducal collection, notably those in the Prado and Schleissheim, see ibid., nos. 1 and 2 (the latter in the reverse).
20.
The Madonna and Child with SS Anna and the Infant Saint John the Baptist, the frame inscribed '.A.Chavon' [Andrea Schiavone (?Zara [now Zadar] c. 1510-1563 Venice)]; the whereabouts of the prototype is not known; it was in the della Nave and Hamilton collections (for which see below) and was listed in the Archduke's 1659 inventory as no. 286. Teniers also depicted it in the renderings of the Archduke's collection at Schleissheim and Munich (see ibid., no. 2 and fig. 10); it was engraved as no. 130 in the Theatrum Pictorium, see ibid., fig. 62.
21.
The Rape of Deianeira, the frame inscribed '.P.Verones.' [Paolo Calliari, il Veronese (Verona 1528-1588 Venice)]; the prototype is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, inv. no. 1.525; it was previously in the della Nave and Hamilton collections (for which see below) and was listed in the 1659 inventory of the Archduke's collection as no. 271; it was engraved as no. 114 in the Theatrum Pictorium, see Daz Padrn and Royo-Villanova, op. cit., fig. 63b. For the prototype, see .....
22.
Portrait of an elderly, bearded Gentleman, the frame inscribed 'Tintoret.' [Jacopo Robusti, il Tintoretto (Venice 1519-1594)]; the prototype is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, no. 25; it was listed as no. 482 in the 1659 inventory of the Archducal collection and in the 1684 editon of the Theatrum Pictorium as no. 103. It was depicted again in the interiors at Munich and Vienna (see Daz Padrn and Royo-Villanova, op cit., figs. 11 and 7).
23.
Portrait of a young Man (barely visible), the frame inscribed 'Kalker' [Jan Steven van Calcar (Calcar [now Kalkar] 1499?-1546? Naples)]; this could be identified with no. 205 of the 1659 inventory of Archducal collection of a young man with a music score attributed to Calcar, which today is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, attributed to Pordenone.
24.
Portrait of Doge Nicolo da Ponte, the frame inscribed 'TINTORET.' [Jacopo Robusti, il Tintoretto (Venice 1519-1594)]; no. 45 of the 1659 inventory of the Archducal collection, and engraved as no. 94 in the Theatrum Pictorium (see Daz Padrn and Royo-Villanova, op cit., fig. 53). The prototype is inv. no. 26 in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, as workshop of Tintoretto, and also recurs (in reverse) in the Schleissheim Gallery of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, for which see Daz Padrn and Royo-Villanova, op. cit., no. 2.
25.
Venus and Cupid, the frame inscribed 'T.WILLEBOORTS.' [Thomas Willeboorts Bosschaert (Bergen-op-Zoom 1614-1654 Antwerp)]; the present whereabouts of the prototype is not known, it was in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg and is recorded as having been signed and dated 1653 (see M.L. Hairs, Dans Le Sillage de Rubens, etc., 1977, p. 237). Painted in the same year as the present work, Teniers depicts it as being available for the Archduke's inspection. However if it was then acquired, it was not apparently included in the collection taken to Vienna, as its omission in the archducal inventory of 1659 would indicate.
26.
Portrait of a Man, the frame inscribed 'HOLBEEN.' [Hans Holbein the Younger (Augsburg 1497/8-1543 London)]; not apparently otherwise recorded, the prototype is not known and was not apparently included in the 1659 inventory of the Archducal collection. The prototype would seem to resemble Holbein's Portrait of Deryck Tybis in the Kunsthistorisches Museum (see J. Rowlands, Holbein, etc., 1985, p. 139, no. 43, pl. 78.)
27.
Portrait of a Man, the frame inscribed: 'I.BASSAN.' [Jacopo da Ponte, il Bassano (Bassano del Grappa c. 1510-1592)]; the whereabouts of the prototype is unknown; apparently not included in the 1659 inventory of the Archducal collection, it was engraved as no. 94, attributed to Tintoretto, in the Theatrum Pictorium.
28.
A Still Life of Fruit and Flowers, the frame inscribed 'CAP.HOFFNAGEL'; [Captain Alexander Hoefnagel]; the whereabouts of the prototype is not known; Sam Segal, 'The Mystery of Captain Hoefnagel', Tableau, 14, no. 1, 1991, identified the artist as Captain Alexander Hoefnagel a nephew of Georg Hoefnagel who travelled to Antwerp in 1650. Thirty watercolours by Georg Hoefnagel are listed in the inventory of the Archduke's collection, many of which, Daz Padrn and M. Royo-Villanova suppose, may have been by the otherwise little known Alexander.
29.
An extensive Landscape, the frame inscribed 'P.BRIL' [Paul Bril (Antwerp c. 1554-1626 Rome)]; the whereabouts of the prototype is not known; the Archduke possessed a group of paintings by Bril acquired from the Hamilton and della Nave collections, for which see below; it is perhaps to be identified with no. 157 of the 1659 inventory of the Archducal collection.
30.
Portrait of a Lady, the frame inscribed 'A.V.DYCK.' [Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)]; the whereabouts of the prototype is not known and there are apparently no other records of this portrait presumably painted in England towards the end of van Dyck's life.
31.
'Il Bravo', the frame inscribed 'GORGON' [Giorgione (Castelfranco, Veneto 1477/8?-1510 Venice)]; the prototype, in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, inv. no. 64, was acquired with the collection of the Duke of Hamilton, for which see below. The subject and attribution have been disputed (see H. Wethey, The Paintings of Titian, III, The Mythological and Historical Paintings, 1975, pp. 130-131, no. 3). The importance attached to it when it was in the collection of the Archduke is shown by the frequency of its appearance in Teniers' depictions of the collection, and its prominence on the frontispiece of the Theatrum Pictorium.
32.
Portrait of a Gentleman, inscribed with the coat of arms of the City of Utrecht, the frame inscribed '.SCHOREL.' [Jan van Scorel (Schoorl, nr. Alkmaar 1495-1562 Utrecht)]; the whereabouts of the prototype is not known, nor apparently is there any other record of the composition.
Archduke Leopold Wilhelm (1614-1662), second son of Emperor Ferdinand II, entered Brussels as governor of the Spanish Netherlands in 1646 and resigned in 1656, when he settled in Vienna. In ten years he created one of the most important collections in Europe - the inventory of his collection made in 1659 numbered 1,397 paintings - the ample nucleus of today's Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, which he had earlier displayed in the Palais Coudenberg in Brussels. In 1647 David Teniers II entered his service, and became court painter in 1651; the appointment led to his moving from Antwerp to Brussels. Margret Klinge, op. cit., p. 21, has stated that 'one of Teniers' most important tasks at court was to supervise and expand the archducal collection'.
It may have been for this purpose that Teniers travelled to London in 1651, for the Archduke acquired paintings from the collection of King Charles I, which were put up for sale following his execution in 1649. His most noteworthy purchase was probably the bulk (some four hundred paintings) of the collection owned by the 3rd Marquess and 1st Duke of Hamilton (1606-1649), a close associate and favourite of the King, also executed in 1649. Hamilton had ended up the sole purchaser in 1638 of the collection of Bartolomeo della Nave, which in itself was one of the most important collections in Venice at the time (for a summary of the Archduke's activity as a collector, see Daz-Padrn and Royo-Villanova, op. cit., pp. 32-36). As Klinge suggests, the first two (dated) paintings of the Archducal collection, which are of 1651, may have been prompted by the acquisition of the Hamilton collection. The only Italian paintings reproduced there are from that collection. The initiative may have come from Teniers as in 1635 he had portrayed himself at work at an easel in an interior - typical in shape and format of 'gallery interiors' by other Antwerp artists - decorated with paintings, many his own work, see Klinge, op. cit., no. 11. Bearing in mind the astonishing growth and splendour of the collection being assembled at the Palais Coudenberg, and Teniers' own empirical outlook, it is likely that the gallery interiors depicting the Archducal collection were painted simply to record and celebrate it and those associated with it. As Klinge, op. cit., no. 79, has proposed, this motive remained valid even after the Archduke's departure with his collection from Brussels for Vienna in 1656.
By this date Teniers had already embarked on an illustrated catalogue of a selection from the collection, the Theatrum Pictorium, finally published in 1660 at Teniers' own expense. It is the first illustrated picture catalogue, consisting of prints after 243 of the Italian paintings, by diffferent engravers. Teniers executed reduced coloured copies after the prototypes, as modelli for the engravers to follow (for a full discussion, see Klinge, op. cit., pp. 278-279, and Daz-Padrn and Royo-Villanova, op. cit., pp. 46-51).
The present painting, which is dated 1653, was executed while the Archduke was en poste in Brussels; indeed it is only one of three treatments of the theme to be dated (the other two being of 1651). Daz-Padr and Royo-Villanova list 11 originals; this number does not include replicas, whether by Teniers or his studio. The present painting is no. 10 of their list. Two replicas or copies testify to its popularity: one is the Museo Lzaro Galdiano, Madrid, see Daz Padrn and Royo-Villanova, op. cit., no. 3, and the other in the Harrach Collection at Rohrau, see for instance G. Heinz, Katalog der Graf Harrach'schen Gemldegalerie, 1960, p. 75, no. 29.
While Teniers' treatments of the theme share many characteristics in common, there are marked variations; and although no chronological sequence for the series as a whole has yet been established, the near primacy of the present lot - by virtue of its being signed and dated - over others not signed or dated is here assumed. Thus the pose of the Archduke, who regards the spectator, recurs in only two other examples; similar poses for the engraver (?) and Teniers are more frequent, see Daz-Padrn and Royo-Villanova, op. cit., p. 90. However the design of the room and the presence of the page are exceptional. While twelve of the prototypes recur in the Prado picture, and nine and five in two of the gallery interiors at Munich, also exceptional is the near parity of Italian and northern prototypes. Indeed prominently displayed, ready for the Archduke's inspection, are two works recently executed in Antwerp: the Still Life of Fruit and Flowers by Alexander Hoefnagel, and the Venus and Cupid by Thomas Willeboorts Bosschaert, the prototype of which is said to have been dated 1653.
While Teniers may have recorded specific events - as for instance the visit of Antonius Triest, Bishop of Ghent, in the picture at Petworth of 1651 (for which, see Klinge, op. cit., no. 76) or in the case of the present work, the Archduke's purchase of recently executed paintings in Antwerp - it seems unlikely that he ever recorded the actual display of the paintings in the Palais Coudenberg. Whether the rooms were ever a faithful record is impossible to say. What determined Teniers' choice of prototypes and their disposition also remains unclear: maybe it was largely fanciful.
For a report of the cleaning and restoration of the present work in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in 1994, see Doris Fend, loc. cit.
The paintings displayed have been thoroughly described in the entry on the Museo Lzaro Galdiano replica by Daz Padrn and Royo-Villanova, op. cit., no. 3.; an edited version of follows (brief references to owners earlier than the Archduke, in particular Bartolomeo della Nave and the Marquess, later 1st Duke of Hamilton, and to the Theatrum Pictorium are more fully explained later in the text). Reading from the top left, relying on the key, the paintings are:
1.
An Alpine Landscape with Muleteers, the frame inscribed 'MomperFBrevghel' [Joos de Momper (Antwerp 1564-1635) and Jan Brueghel I (Brussels 1568-1625 Antwerp) or II (Antwerp 1601-1678) to what the F refers remains as yet obscure]; the prototype has not been identified; Speth-Holterhoff, op. cit., p. 143, wrongly suggested that it is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum (no. 664).
2.
Portrait of Polyxena Spinola, Marquesa de Legans, the frame inscribed 'AVDyck' [Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)]; after van Dyck's portrait in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., for which see E. Larsen, The Paintings of Anthony van Dyck, II, p. 250, no. 615, or more probably a replica, otherwise unrecorded.
3.
The March of Silenus, the frame inscribed '.P.P. Rubbens' [Sir Peter Paul Rubens (Westphalia 1577-1640 Antwerp)]; after the picture by Rubens in the Palazzo Durazzo Pallavicini, Genoa, for which see M. Jaff, Rubens Catalogo Completo, 1989, no. 216, or after a replica; the same work was copied in Teniers' Gallery of the Archduke at Schleissheim, for which see Daz Padrn and Royo-Villanova, op. cit., no. 2.
4.
A Still Life of Fruit and a Roemer (the right hand part only of which is visible), the frame inscribed 'D.Heem'; probably intended to be Jan Davidsz. de Heem (Utrecht 1606-1683/4 Antwerp); the prototype has not been identified; perhaps it was in the collection of the Duke of Hamilton.
5.
A Wooded Landscape, the frame inscribed 'I Foqveel'; no artist with this name is recorded, intended was probably Jacques Fouquires (Antwerp 1590/91-1659 Paris); the prototype has not been identified nor is there apparently any other record of it.
6.
Landscape with the Sacrifice of Abraham, the frame inscribed 'HBol.' [Hans Bol (Mechelen 1534-1593 Amsterdam (?))]; the whereabouts of the prototype is not known, but it is probably to be identified with no. 685 of the 1659 inventory of the Archducal collection.
7.
Portrait of a Lady holding a Weasel (?), the frame inscribed 'Titianvs' [Titian (Cadore c. 1490-1576 Venice)]; the prototype, to be considered as the work of a follower of Titian is still in the Kunsthistorisches Museum according to H. Wethey, The Paintings of Titian, II, The Portraits, 1971, p. 187, no. 4, under X-112; the prototype was also copied in the Prado Gallery of the Archduke, for which see Daz Padrn and Royo-Villanova, op. cit., no. 1, and was depicted in reverse in two other renderings in Schleissheim and Munich, for which see ibid., no. 2 and fig. 11, and was engraved in the Theatrum Pictorium etc., no. 94; it was acquired with the collection of the Duke of Hamilton and was no. 197 of the 1659 inventory of the Archducal collection, see ibid., p. 84, no. 10.
8.
Portrait of a Young Man, the frame inscribed 'P.V.Mol.' [Pieter van Mol (Antwerp 1598/9-1650 Paris)]; the prototype by Pieter van Mol may have been that at Althorp which is signed and dated 1635; the same work was depicted in Teniers' Interior of a Picture Gallery of 1635 (see Klinge, op. cit., no. 22) and in that at Raby Castle; the former included a self-portrait of the artist at work, and may therefore have been in Teniers' collection. Margret Klinge has suggested that Teniers may have sold it to the Archduke, (ibid., p. 52, under no. 22); a hypothesis not necessarily challenged by its presence in the Raby Castle picture, for which see Speth-Holterhoff, op. cit., pp. 155-157 and pl. VI, which shows another artist at work. It seems not to have been included with the collection taken by the Archduke to Vienna as it is not recorded in the 1659 inventory.
9.
The Infants Jesus and Saint John the Baptist embracing, the frame inscribed 'B.Orley.' [Bernard van Orley (Brussels 1488-1541)]; for versions of the prototype, deriving from Leonardo da Vinci, from the workshop of Joos van Cleve, see M.J. Friedlnder, Early Netherlandish Painting, with comments and notes by H. Pauwels, IX, part I, 1972, p. 57, no. 37. No other record of the prototype seems to be known; it was not in the collection taken to Vienna by the Archduke as it is not in the 1659 inventory.
10.
The Parable of the Blind leading the Blind, the frame inscribed '.Fetti.' [Domenico Fetti (Rome 1588/9-1623 Venice)]; Fetti's prototype is in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden, and is recorded there in 1742, having been previously in the Imperial Collection at Prague; it was probably painted for Duke Ferdinando Gonzaga and was acquired by the Duke of Buckingham (1628) probably through Daniel Nys; acquired from the Buckingham collection in Antwerp in 1649 by the Archduke, in the 1659 inventory of whose collection it was no. 153; for a full account, see E. Safarik, Fetti, 1990, pp. 90-93, no. 23. The prototype was also depicted by Teniers in the Gallery of the Archduke at Munich, see Daz Padrn and Royo-Villanova, op. cit., fig. 11, and was engraved as no. 210 in the Theatrum Pictorium.
11.
The Nativity, the frame inscribed '.L.V.L.' [Lucas van Leyden (Leiden 1494-1533)]; the prototype, one of several versions, in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, no. 5.878, is now attributed to Michiel Sittow (Reval [now Talinn] c. 1468-1525/6), not to Lucas van Leyden, as it was in Teniers' time, and is thought to derive from a lost prototype by Hugo van der Goes.
12.
Portrait of a Nobleman, the frame inscribed 'I.Tintoret.' [Jacopo Robusti, il Tintoretto (Venice 1517-1694)]; the prototype is not known, nor is there apparently any other record of it.
13.
Judith with the head of Holofernes, the frame inscribed 'Car.Vinisiano.' [Carlo Saraceni, called Veneziano (Venice c. 1579-1620)]; the prototype (see A. Ottani Cavini, Carlo Saraceni, 1968, pp. 125-126) is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, no. 41, and was acquired by the Archduke (his inventory of 1659, no. 211) with the collection of the Duke of Hamilton (for which see below). Teniers depicted it in other renderings of the Archducal collection: at Brussels, for which see Daz Padrn and Royo-Villanova, op. cit., fig. 6; Munich, see ibid., fig. 11; and Petworth, see ibid., fig. 8. It was engraved as no. 39 in the Theatrum Pictorium; Teniers' modello for the engraving ...........
14.
SS George and Rosalia, the frame inscribed '.I. Bellini.' [Giovanni Bellini (? 1431/6-1516 Venice)]; the prototype, the left hand lower section of the San Cassiano altarpiece by Antonello da Messina, is lost; the central portion (made up of three sections) is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, no. 2, 574; the Archduke owned one other part, the St George, which is also lost; these had been in the collections of Bartolomeo della Nave, when still correctly attributed, and of the Marquess of Hamilton (for which see below), see Daz Padrn and Royo-Villanova, op. cit., pp. 95-6, no. 14, and pp. 102-103. The present fragment was listed in the inventory of the Archducal collection of 1659, as no. 141, and was engraved as no. 67 in the Theatrum Pictorium, see Daz Padrn and Royo-Villanova, op. cit., fig. 59b; Teniers' modello for which is in the ......
15.
Susannah and the Elders, the frame inscribed '.C. Schut.' [Cornelis Schut (Antwerp 1597-1655)]; the whereabouts of the prototype is not known, a similar work of different proportions is recorded as having been offered at the Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels, 17/19 November 1953, lot 191; the prototype does not appear the inventory of 1659 of the Archduke's collection, and was therefore probably not taken by him from Brussels.
16.
Salome with the head of Saint John the Baptist, the frame inscribed '.I.V. Hocke.' [Jan van den Hoecke (Antwerp 1611-1651)]; the whereabouts of the prototype is not known. The artist was Teniers' predecessor as pintor de camara to the Archduke, and although nineteen of his paintings are in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, the present work was not included in the inventory of 1659 of the Archducal collection, and was therefore probably not taken from Brussels to Vienna.
17.
Christ on the Way to Calvary, the frame inscribed '.G. Bassano' [Gerolamo da Ponte, called Bassano (Bassano del Grappa 1566-1621 Venice)]; the prototype is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, no. 1, 869, where similarly attributed. It was in the collection of Bartolomeo della Nave and then that of the Marquess of Hamilton (for which see below); it is listed as no. 222 of the 1659 inventory of the Archduke's collection, and was engraved as no. 155 in the Theatrum Pictorium.
18.
The Holy Family with SS Magdalen and the Infant Baptist, the frame inscribed '.Palma.' [Jacopo Palma, il Vecchio (Serina, nr. Bergamo 1479/80?-1528 Venice)]; the prototype is in the Uffizi through an exchange in 1793 from the Imperial collection. It has been identified in the della Nave collection and in that of the Duke of Hamilton (for which see below); it is no. 231 of the 1659 inventory of the Archduke's collection and was included in the Theatrum Pictorium of 1660 (see Daz Padrn and Royo-Villanova, op.cit., fig. 61).
19.
The Toilet of Venus, the frame inscribed '.A. CORRESIO.' [Antonio Allegri, il Correggio (Correggio 1489?-1534)]; the whereabouts of the prototype is not known; it was in the collection of the Duke of Hamilton (for which see below), and is no. 231 of the 1659 inventory of the Archducal collection and was engraved in the Theatrum Pictorium, see ibid., fig. 50. Teniers also included it in other depictions of the Archducal collection, notably those in the Prado and Schleissheim, see ibid., nos. 1 and 2 (the latter in the reverse).
20.
The Madonna and Child with SS Anna and the Infant Saint John the Baptist, the frame inscribed '.A.Chavon' [Andrea Schiavone (?Zara [now Zadar] c. 1510-1563 Venice)]; the whereabouts of the prototype is not known; it was in the della Nave and Hamilton collections (for which see below) and was listed in the Archduke's 1659 inventory as no. 286. Teniers also depicted it in the renderings of the Archduke's collection at Schleissheim and Munich (see ibid., no. 2 and fig. 10); it was engraved as no. 130 in the Theatrum Pictorium, see ibid., fig. 62.
21.
The Rape of Deianeira, the frame inscribed '.P.Verones.' [Paolo Calliari, il Veronese (Verona 1528-1588 Venice)]; the prototype is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, inv. no. 1.525; it was previously in the della Nave and Hamilton collections (for which see below) and was listed in the 1659 inventory of the Archduke's collection as no. 271; it was engraved as no. 114 in the Theatrum Pictorium, see Daz Padrn and Royo-Villanova, op. cit., fig. 63b. For the prototype, see .....
22.
Portrait of an elderly, bearded Gentleman, the frame inscribed 'Tintoret.' [Jacopo Robusti, il Tintoretto (Venice 1519-1594)]; the prototype is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, no. 25; it was listed as no. 482 in the 1659 inventory of the Archducal collection and in the 1684 editon of the Theatrum Pictorium as no. 103. It was depicted again in the interiors at Munich and Vienna (see Daz Padrn and Royo-Villanova, op cit., figs. 11 and 7).
23.
Portrait of a young Man (barely visible), the frame inscribed 'Kalker' [Jan Steven van Calcar (Calcar [now Kalkar] 1499?-1546? Naples)]; this could be identified with no. 205 of the 1659 inventory of Archducal collection of a young man with a music score attributed to Calcar, which today is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, attributed to Pordenone.
24.
Portrait of Doge Nicolo da Ponte, the frame inscribed 'TINTORET.' [Jacopo Robusti, il Tintoretto (Venice 1519-1594)]; no. 45 of the 1659 inventory of the Archducal collection, and engraved as no. 94 in the Theatrum Pictorium (see Daz Padrn and Royo-Villanova, op cit., fig. 53). The prototype is inv. no. 26 in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, as workshop of Tintoretto, and also recurs (in reverse) in the Schleissheim Gallery of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, for which see Daz Padrn and Royo-Villanova, op. cit., no. 2.
25.
Venus and Cupid, the frame inscribed 'T.WILLEBOORTS.' [Thomas Willeboorts Bosschaert (Bergen-op-Zoom 1614-1654 Antwerp)]; the present whereabouts of the prototype is not known, it was in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg and is recorded as having been signed and dated 1653 (see M.L. Hairs, Dans Le Sillage de Rubens, etc., 1977, p. 237). Painted in the same year as the present work, Teniers depicts it as being available for the Archduke's inspection. However if it was then acquired, it was not apparently included in the collection taken to Vienna, as its omission in the archducal inventory of 1659 would indicate.
26.
Portrait of a Man, the frame inscribed 'HOLBEEN.' [Hans Holbein the Younger (Augsburg 1497/8-1543 London)]; not apparently otherwise recorded, the prototype is not known and was not apparently included in the 1659 inventory of the Archducal collection. The prototype would seem to resemble Holbein's Portrait of Deryck Tybis in the Kunsthistorisches Museum (see J. Rowlands, Holbein, etc., 1985, p. 139, no. 43, pl. 78.)
27.
Portrait of a Man, the frame inscribed: 'I.BASSAN.' [Jacopo da Ponte, il Bassano (Bassano del Grappa c. 1510-1592)]; the whereabouts of the prototype is unknown; apparently not included in the 1659 inventory of the Archducal collection, it was engraved as no. 94, attributed to Tintoretto, in the Theatrum Pictorium.
28.
A Still Life of Fruit and Flowers, the frame inscribed 'CAP.HOFFNAGEL'; [Captain Alexander Hoefnagel]; the whereabouts of the prototype is not known; Sam Segal, 'The Mystery of Captain Hoefnagel', Tableau, 14, no. 1, 1991, identified the artist as Captain Alexander Hoefnagel a nephew of Georg Hoefnagel who travelled to Antwerp in 1650. Thirty watercolours by Georg Hoefnagel are listed in the inventory of the Archduke's collection, many of which, Daz Padrn and M. Royo-Villanova suppose, may have been by the otherwise little known Alexander.
29.
An extensive Landscape, the frame inscribed 'P.BRIL' [Paul Bril (Antwerp c. 1554-1626 Rome)]; the whereabouts of the prototype is not known; the Archduke possessed a group of paintings by Bril acquired from the Hamilton and della Nave collections, for which see below; it is perhaps to be identified with no. 157 of the 1659 inventory of the Archducal collection.
30.
Portrait of a Lady, the frame inscribed 'A.V.DYCK.' [Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London)]; the whereabouts of the prototype is not known and there are apparently no other records of this portrait presumably painted in England towards the end of van Dyck's life.
31.
'Il Bravo', the frame inscribed 'GORGON' [Giorgione (Castelfranco, Veneto 1477/8?-1510 Venice)]; the prototype, in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, inv. no. 64, was acquired with the collection of the Duke of Hamilton, for which see below. The subject and attribution have been disputed (see H. Wethey, The Paintings of Titian, III, The Mythological and Historical Paintings, 1975, pp. 130-131, no. 3). The importance attached to it when it was in the collection of the Archduke is shown by the frequency of its appearance in Teniers' depictions of the collection, and its prominence on the frontispiece of the Theatrum Pictorium.
32.
Portrait of a Gentleman, inscribed with the coat of arms of the City of Utrecht, the frame inscribed '.SCHOREL.' [Jan van Scorel (Schoorl, nr. Alkmaar 1495-1562 Utrecht)]; the whereabouts of the prototype is not known, nor apparently is there any other record of the composition.
Archduke Leopold Wilhelm (1614-1662), second son of Emperor Ferdinand II, entered Brussels as governor of the Spanish Netherlands in 1646 and resigned in 1656, when he settled in Vienna. In ten years he created one of the most important collections in Europe - the inventory of his collection made in 1659 numbered 1,397 paintings - the ample nucleus of today's Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, which he had earlier displayed in the Palais Coudenberg in Brussels. In 1647 David Teniers II entered his service, and became court painter in 1651; the appointment led to his moving from Antwerp to Brussels. Margret Klinge, op. cit., p. 21, has stated that 'one of Teniers' most important tasks at court was to supervise and expand the archducal collection'.
It may have been for this purpose that Teniers travelled to London in 1651, for the Archduke acquired paintings from the collection of King Charles I, which were put up for sale following his execution in 1649. His most noteworthy purchase was probably the bulk (some four hundred paintings) of the collection owned by the 3rd Marquess and 1st Duke of Hamilton (1606-1649), a close associate and favourite of the King, also executed in 1649. Hamilton had ended up the sole purchaser in 1638 of the collection of Bartolomeo della Nave, which in itself was one of the most important collections in Venice at the time (for a summary of the Archduke's activity as a collector, see Daz-Padrn and Royo-Villanova, op. cit., pp. 32-36). As Klinge suggests, the first two (dated) paintings of the Archducal collection, which are of 1651, may have been prompted by the acquisition of the Hamilton collection. The only Italian paintings reproduced there are from that collection. The initiative may have come from Teniers as in 1635 he had portrayed himself at work at an easel in an interior - typical in shape and format of 'gallery interiors' by other Antwerp artists - decorated with paintings, many his own work, see Klinge, op. cit., no. 11. Bearing in mind the astonishing growth and splendour of the collection being assembled at the Palais Coudenberg, and Teniers' own empirical outlook, it is likely that the gallery interiors depicting the Archducal collection were painted simply to record and celebrate it and those associated with it. As Klinge, op. cit., no. 79, has proposed, this motive remained valid even after the Archduke's departure with his collection from Brussels for Vienna in 1656.
By this date Teniers had already embarked on an illustrated catalogue of a selection from the collection, the Theatrum Pictorium, finally published in 1660 at Teniers' own expense. It is the first illustrated picture catalogue, consisting of prints after 243 of the Italian paintings, by diffferent engravers. Teniers executed reduced coloured copies after the prototypes, as modelli for the engravers to follow (for a full discussion, see Klinge, op. cit., pp. 278-279, and Daz-Padrn and Royo-Villanova, op. cit., pp. 46-51).
The present painting, which is dated 1653, was executed while the Archduke was en poste in Brussels; indeed it is only one of three treatments of the theme to be dated (the other two being of 1651). Daz-Padr and Royo-Villanova list 11 originals; this number does not include replicas, whether by Teniers or his studio. The present painting is no. 10 of their list. Two replicas or copies testify to its popularity: one is the Museo Lzaro Galdiano, Madrid, see Daz Padrn and Royo-Villanova, op. cit., no. 3, and the other in the Harrach Collection at Rohrau, see for instance G. Heinz, Katalog der Graf Harrach'schen Gemldegalerie, 1960, p. 75, no. 29.
While Teniers' treatments of the theme share many characteristics in common, there are marked variations; and although no chronological sequence for the series as a whole has yet been established, the near primacy of the present lot - by virtue of its being signed and dated - over others not signed or dated is here assumed. Thus the pose of the Archduke, who regards the spectator, recurs in only two other examples; similar poses for the engraver (?) and Teniers are more frequent, see Daz-Padrn and Royo-Villanova, op. cit., p. 90. However the design of the room and the presence of the page are exceptional. While twelve of the prototypes recur in the Prado picture, and nine and five in two of the gallery interiors at Munich, also exceptional is the near parity of Italian and northern prototypes. Indeed prominently displayed, ready for the Archduke's inspection, are two works recently executed in Antwerp: the Still Life of Fruit and Flowers by Alexander Hoefnagel, and the Venus and Cupid by Thomas Willeboorts Bosschaert, the prototype of which is said to have been dated 1653.
While Teniers may have recorded specific events - as for instance the visit of Antonius Triest, Bishop of Ghent, in the picture at Petworth of 1651 (for which, see Klinge, op. cit., no. 76) or in the case of the present work, the Archduke's purchase of recently executed paintings in Antwerp - it seems unlikely that he ever recorded the actual display of the paintings in the Palais Coudenberg. Whether the rooms were ever a faithful record is impossible to say. What determined Teniers' choice of prototypes and their disposition also remains unclear: maybe it was largely fanciful.
For a report of the cleaning and restoration of the present work in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in 1994, see Doris Fend, loc. cit.