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Lot Essay
As noted by Dr. Lorne Campbell in the catalogue of the 1979 Brussels exhibition (loc. cit.), there are two other versions of this portrait: that in the Museum of Art, Indianapolis (The Clowes Collection), and that formerly in a Berlin Collection (now only known from photographs at the RKD, The Hague). The latter version provides a tantalising clue as to the possible identity of the sitter through the presence on the reverse of the panel of the coat-of-arms of the Bruges-based van Themseke family. It is, as Dr. Campbell has commented, 'interesting and unusual that three versions of a portrait should survive' (private correspondence).
Beside Van der Weyden's portraits of Burgundian princes and donor portraits, Friedländer (loc. cit., 1967, p. 26) listed a distinctive group of only nine fully accepted individual portraits of men; he included the present lot in that group, dating it to circa 1450. Hulin likewise accepted the panel and dated it to circa 1450-5. The attribution had, however, been questioned by Winkler, whose doubts the opinions of both Panofsky and Davies confirmed. More recent scholars have refrained from offering definitive opinions because of the picture's condition. Dirk de Vos, in his recent monograph (loc. cit.) conflated the present work with the other versions, making his view that it has been fundamentally reworked hard to assess (although there is certainly some degree of later work), but he nonetheless remarked that any reworking was based on an old core.
The handling of the present picture has been compared with that of The Exhumation of Saint Hubert in the National Gallery, London, currently regarded as a work in whole or in part by Van der Weyden's studio. As yet, however, very little study has been undertaken into Van der Weyden's workshop practice and the collaborative work of his assistants, and so it remains possible that a similar attribution may yet be given to the present lot.
Van der Weyden's production of portraits was concentrated around the decade 1450-60. Particularly notable is the way he pared down the traditional style of portraiture, placing his sitters in a neutral, evenly lit background, their heads turned at a three-quarters angle, almost relief-like, conveying a degree of meditative calm and aloofness traditionally associated with the Burgundian Court. Typical also in the present lot is the pyramidal composition and the highly articulated clasped hands that seem to rest against the edge of the frame, creating, in turn, a secondary pyramid. Features such as the neck and nose are typically elongated, whilst the sitter's haircut is that in fashion in circa 1450-60.
Beside Van der Weyden's portraits of Burgundian princes and donor portraits, Friedländer (loc. cit., 1967, p. 26) listed a distinctive group of only nine fully accepted individual portraits of men; he included the present lot in that group, dating it to circa 1450. Hulin likewise accepted the panel and dated it to circa 1450-5. The attribution had, however, been questioned by Winkler, whose doubts the opinions of both Panofsky and Davies confirmed. More recent scholars have refrained from offering definitive opinions because of the picture's condition. Dirk de Vos, in his recent monograph (loc. cit.) conflated the present work with the other versions, making his view that it has been fundamentally reworked hard to assess (although there is certainly some degree of later work), but he nonetheless remarked that any reworking was based on an old core.
The handling of the present picture has been compared with that of The Exhumation of Saint Hubert in the National Gallery, London, currently regarded as a work in whole or in part by Van der Weyden's studio. As yet, however, very little study has been undertaken into Van der Weyden's workshop practice and the collaborative work of his assistants, and so it remains possible that a similar attribution may yet be given to the present lot.
Van der Weyden's production of portraits was concentrated around the decade 1450-60. Particularly notable is the way he pared down the traditional style of portraiture, placing his sitters in a neutral, evenly lit background, their heads turned at a three-quarters angle, almost relief-like, conveying a degree of meditative calm and aloofness traditionally associated with the Burgundian Court. Typical also in the present lot is the pyramidal composition and the highly articulated clasped hands that seem to rest against the edge of the frame, creating, in turn, a secondary pyramid. Features such as the neck and nose are typically elongated, whilst the sitter's haircut is that in fashion in circa 1450-60.