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Lot Essay
This is one of a group of three paintings by Metsys and his studio, the other two both depicting the Madonna standing in a Church with Angels, of which the first (the Seilern Madonna) is in the Princes Gate Collection, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London, and the second is in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyons. Well documented by Metsys scholars, the question of priority amongst the three works would appear currently to stand with the Seilern picture regarded as the prototype, that in Lyons as a subsequent, autograph replica and the present picture as a studio variant, as judged by Silver (op. cit., p. 207).
Friedländer, however, formerly regarded the present picture as the prime version, first publishing it as such in 1938 (loc. cit.). Panofsky questioned that assessment, however, regarding the present picture as 'apparently executed by an assistant', a judgement followed by Count Anton Seilern, who in his 1955 catalogue of his collection wrote: 'Judging from the photograph, this composition seems to be a later, free version of the present one [his own picture].' Friedländer returned to the question in the English edition of his Early Netherlandish Painting, regarding the Lyons painting as the prime, the Seilern painting as 'a precise replica apparently by the master's hand' and the present work as a 'free repetition ....likewise by the master's hand' (op. cit., 1971, p. 63). De Basque followed Friedländer, regarding the present work as being by the same hand as the Seilern painting, which he accepted as autograph. Although, of course, the possibility cannot be discounted that the picture may yet be reaffirmed as fully autograph, the present cataloguing follows Silver's assessment.
As noted by Silver (loc. cit.), most scholars have dated the composition to early in Metsys' career; he, however, compared the 'bright blue gown' of the Seilern Virgin to the 'colourful garments' of those in the Lamentation from the Saint John altarpiece (Antwerp, Musée Royale des Beaux-Arts) and the Rest on the Flight (Worcester, Massachusetts, Art Museum) from the Seven Sorrows Altarpiece. Similarly, he compared the 'high forehead, tiny chin, and firm, straight nose' of the Antwerp and Worcester Virgins to the Seilern Virgin, dating the latter work thereby to Metsys' early maturity. The Lyons painting he dated slightly later, by comparison with the Crucifixion in the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.
Friedländer, however, formerly regarded the present picture as the prime version, first publishing it as such in 1938 (loc. cit.). Panofsky questioned that assessment, however, regarding the present picture as 'apparently executed by an assistant', a judgement followed by Count Anton Seilern, who in his 1955 catalogue of his collection wrote: 'Judging from the photograph, this composition seems to be a later, free version of the present one [his own picture].' Friedländer returned to the question in the English edition of his Early Netherlandish Painting, regarding the Lyons painting as the prime, the Seilern painting as 'a precise replica apparently by the master's hand' and the present work as a 'free repetition ....likewise by the master's hand' (op. cit., 1971, p. 63). De Basque followed Friedländer, regarding the present work as being by the same hand as the Seilern painting, which he accepted as autograph. Although, of course, the possibility cannot be discounted that the picture may yet be reaffirmed as fully autograph, the present cataloguing follows Silver's assessment.
As noted by Silver (loc. cit.), most scholars have dated the composition to early in Metsys' career; he, however, compared the 'bright blue gown' of the Seilern Virgin to the 'colourful garments' of those in the Lamentation from the Saint John altarpiece (Antwerp, Musée Royale des Beaux-Arts) and the Rest on the Flight (Worcester, Massachusetts, Art Museum) from the Seven Sorrows Altarpiece. Similarly, he compared the 'high forehead, tiny chin, and firm, straight nose' of the Antwerp and Worcester Virgins to the Seilern Virgin, dating the latter work thereby to Metsys' early maturity. The Lyons painting he dated slightly later, by comparison with the Crucifixion in the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.