Circle of Joos van Cleve (1485-1540/1)

Portrait of a bearded Gentleman, half length, wearing a black hat and holding a letter

Details

Circle of Joos van Cleve (1485-1540/1)
Cleve, J.
Portrait of a bearded Gentleman, half length, wearing a black hat and holding a letter
oil on panel
28 x 20in. (71.8 x 50.8cm.)

Provenance

Capt. E.G. Spencer-Churchill, Northwick Park; Christie's, London, May 28, 1965, lot 39 (4500gns.) as Flemish School, circa 1540.
with Leggatt Bros., London, 1965 (advertisement The Burlington Magazine, December 1965) as Netherlandish, circa 1540.

Literature

A Catalogue of the Pictures, Works of Art etc. at Northwick Park, 1864, no. 26, as Holbein, Portrait of the Earl of Surrey.
Arundel Club Portfolio, 1913, no. 12 as attributed to Jan van Scorel.
T. Borenius, A Catalogue of the Collection of Pictures at Northwick Park, 1921, no. 131.
M.J. Friedlnder, Early Netherlandish Paintings, 1972, IX, Part I, no. 100a, pl. 110, as 'a faithful old copy, in a better state of preservation than the original', (with incorrect measurements).

Exhibited

Possibly The British Institute, 1832, no. 113, as Titian.

Lot Essay

The pose is related to the presumed self-portrait by Cleve at Windsor (see Friedlnder, op. cit., p. 69). The location of the original composition, formerly in the Jules S. Bache collection, New York, is now unknown, but another version was formerly in the collection of the Grand Duke of Weimar and was attributed to Joos van Cleve. All three differ slightly in size. A drawing after one of the portraits by an Italian hand (and inscribed 'Giorgione') is in the Muse Cond, Chantilly. The sitter has some resemblance to the Howard Family, and has been called the Earl of Surrey.

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