Details
Otto van Veen (Leiden c. 1556-1629 Brussels)
The Pentecost
oil on copper, stamped with the maker's mark of Pieter Stas and the Antwerp hand
9 ½ x 12 5/8 in. (24.2 x 32.1 cm.)
Provenance
with Central Picture Galleries, New York, where acquired by Everett Fahy.
Literature
La Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena: i dipinti dal XV al XVIII secolo, Genoa, 1978, p.265.
Sale room notice
Please note that the presence of the “Antwerp hand” on the back of the panel indicates that it was painted after 1584, when new laws were instituted regulating the export of goods from that city. As a result, it cannot have been painted as early (1575-1580) as was suggested in the catalogue, and is more likely to be a mature work by the artist. There has been a suggestion that this series was acquired in Antwerp by Vincenzo I Gonzaga c. 1611/1612, though some scholars believe it dates to a few years later, c. 1615. The existence of a complete set of this type by Van Veen, including 15 works in total, is preserved in the Staatsgalerie Neuberg an der Donau and suggests that in addition to the present copper and the five in the Pinacoteca in Siena, nine works from the series remain as-yet-undiscovered.
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