The Mirror of Time

Details

Jacob de Backer (Antwerp circa 1555-circa 1585)
The Mirror of Time
oil on paper, laid down on canvas
16 ¼ x 11 5/8 in. (41.3 x 29.5 cm.)

Provenance

Leonard J. Slatkes, New York, until 2003 (+), from whom acquired by the following,
Anonymous sale; Christie's, New York, 31 January 2013, lot 231 ($13,750), when acquired by the present owner.

Special notice

Specified lots (sold and unsold) marked with a filled square not collected from Christie’s by 5.00 pm on the day of the sale will, at our option, be removed to Cadogan Tate. Christie’s will inform you if the lot has been sent offsite. Our removal and storage of the lot is subject to the terms and conditions of storage which can be found at Christies.com/storage. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Cadogan Tate Ltd. All collections will be by pre-booked appointment only. Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 9060 Email: cscollectionsuk@christies.com. If the lot remains at Christie’s it will be available for collection on any working day 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Lots are not available for collection at weekends.

Lot Essay

Warning against luxury and overindulgence, this allegorical grisaille depicting the Mirror of Time relates to a larger, finished painting by De Backer (sold Sotheby's, New York, 6 June 2012, lot 17), as well as to a print by Hieronymus Wierix published by Godevaard van Haecht (see E. Leuschner, 'Defining De Backer,' Gazette des Beaux-Arts 137, no. 1587, April 2001, fig. 25). As with De Backer's Madonna and Child with Saint John in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. 2002.88), the precise function of this grisaille in Backer's working process is unknown. It may have served as a preparatory study, or it could be a record of a completed painting, or a finished work in its own right (see E. Leuschner, 'A Grisaille Oil Sketch from the 'De Backer Group' and Workshop Practices in Sixteenth-Century Antwerp,' Metropolitan Museum Journal 43, 2008, p. 101).

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