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Lot Essay
The present picture shows extensive underdrawing in the figures. This confirms an early date of execution, circa 1600. The composition is probably derived from a lost original by Pieter Breughel I, possibly that of 1554, which Abraham Buchelius (1583 - 1643) in Ars Pictoriae recorded as being in the collection of Bartholomeus Ferreris in Leyden at the end of the 16th century (See G. Glck, Breughels Gemlde, 1951, under no.84). No other versions of the present picture are known.
The horsemen at the foot of the Cross also occur in Pieter Brueghel the Second's rendering of the subject, of which 14 versions are recorded by G. Marlier, Pierre Brueghel le Jeune, 1969, pp.285/294 Although Marlier, op.cit., p.285/6 believed that this was Brueghel's own invention, although some individual figures may have been copied from his father.
The horsemen at the foot of the Cross also occur in Pieter Brueghel the Second's rendering of the subject, of which 14 versions are recorded by G. Marlier, Pierre Brueghel le Jeune, 1969, pp.285/294 Although Marlier, op.cit., p.285/6 believed that this was Brueghel's own invention, although some individual figures may have been copied from his father.