.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The pictures are described from the left, reading from the top.
Above the entrance: The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian; on the wall of the entrance: Joseph and Potiphar's Wife; and Pan and Syrinx.
On the far wall: Roman Charity in the style of Rubens; a landscape with a swineherd in the style of Jan Brueghel; an interior of a church in the style of Pieter Neeffs; The Tribute Money in the style of Frans Francken II; a still life of fruit in a basket in the style of Frans Snyders; The Death of Lucretia in the style of Abraham Janssens(?); a still life of flowers in an ornate urn in the style of Frans Francken II (cf. U. Härting, Frans Francken II, Freren, 1989, p. 367, no. 438); Alexander and Campaspe also in the style of Francken (cf. Härting, op. cit., no. 309); a still life with a chicken on a plate, bread and sweetmeats on a tazza in the style of Osias Beert (cf. the picture sold in these Rooms 28 March 1979, lot 91); Salome handed the Head of Saint John the Baptist; a still life of fruit on a pewter plate in the style of Frans Snyders (a pendant to the adjacent still life); a town on fire at night(=The Burning of Troy(?)) in the style of Louis de Caullery (?); a Man-of-War in a gale in the style of Andries van Ertvelt; The Infancy of Christ and a town on fire at night (=The Burning of Troy(?)), a pendant to the adjacent picture of the same subject; a peasant picking fleas from a boy's head in the style of David Teniers II; on the floor against the wall: a river landscape, this connects closely with a work by Jan Brueghel II, see K. Ertz, Jan Brueghel the Younger 1601-1678, etc., Freren, 1984, pp. 234-235, no. 56.
On the right hand wall: a man chopping wood in a village in the style of Jan Wildens; a waterfall in the style of Marten Ryckaert; a landscape with a manor house in the style of Jan Wildens; a winter landscape in the style of Gysbrecht Leytens; the Adoration of the Magi probably inspired by Rubens.
On the easel: an Allegory of Vanity; beside it, unframed, Gypsy fortune tellers in a landscape in the style of Lucas van Uden; Saint Francis in a garland surround in the style of Erasmus Quellinus II and Daniel Seghers; a peasant in an interior in the style of David Ryckaert III.
On the near table: an open folio with two studies of naked men; a celestial globe, shells, a statue of Jupiter(?) and a statue of a woman holding a globe. On the far table, a statue of Venus and Cupid, porcelain and other objects. Above, in a niche on the far wall, a statue of The Rape of a Sabine in the style of Giambologna (cf. the exhibition catalogue edited by Charles Avery and Anthony Radcliffe Giambologna 1529-1608, Edinburgh, London and Vienna, 1978-1979, no. 57).
Published by Kelly in the Burlington Magazine and extensively discussed by Speth-Holterhoff, the present work is one of two signed 'gallery interiors' by Cornelis de Baellieur; the other with a different room is in the Louvre and is dated 1637. The same interior with some of the same pictures occurs in the picture in Vienna, which was described as the work of Hans Jordaens (III) when in the collection of the Archduke Leopold Wilhelm. The same interior with the colonnade outside (which is absent in the Vienna picture) occurs in the picture in the National Gallery, which has been dated c. 1620. Joachim Rees argues that the Vienna picture may be the work of collaboration between Jordaens and de Baellieur. However, the figures in the present picture are much closer to the handling of de Baellieur than of Jordaens, as is evident from a comparison with the signed pictures in the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts in Brussels and in the Herzog-Anton-Ulrich-Museum in Brunswick (see J. de Maere & M. Wabbes, Illustrated Dictionary of 17th Century Flemish Painters, Plates A-K, 1994, pp. 50 & 51). The present picture has been dated c. 1635-1640 by Speth-Holterhoff, but could have been executed a little later.
Above the entrance: The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian; on the wall of the entrance: Joseph and Potiphar's Wife; and Pan and Syrinx.
On the far wall: Roman Charity in the style of Rubens; a landscape with a swineherd in the style of Jan Brueghel; an interior of a church in the style of Pieter Neeffs; The Tribute Money in the style of Frans Francken II; a still life of fruit in a basket in the style of Frans Snyders; The Death of Lucretia in the style of Abraham Janssens(?); a still life of flowers in an ornate urn in the style of Frans Francken II (cf. U. Härting, Frans Francken II, Freren, 1989, p. 367, no. 438); Alexander and Campaspe also in the style of Francken (cf. Härting, op. cit., no. 309); a still life with a chicken on a plate, bread and sweetmeats on a tazza in the style of Osias Beert (cf. the picture sold in these Rooms 28 March 1979, lot 91); Salome handed the Head of Saint John the Baptist; a still life of fruit on a pewter plate in the style of Frans Snyders (a pendant to the adjacent still life); a town on fire at night(=The Burning of Troy(?)) in the style of Louis de Caullery (?); a Man-of-War in a gale in the style of Andries van Ertvelt; The Infancy of Christ and a town on fire at night (=The Burning of Troy(?)), a pendant to the adjacent picture of the same subject; a peasant picking fleas from a boy's head in the style of David Teniers II; on the floor against the wall: a river landscape, this connects closely with a work by Jan Brueghel II, see K. Ertz, Jan Brueghel the Younger 1601-1678, etc., Freren, 1984, pp. 234-235, no. 56.
On the right hand wall: a man chopping wood in a village in the style of Jan Wildens; a waterfall in the style of Marten Ryckaert; a landscape with a manor house in the style of Jan Wildens; a winter landscape in the style of Gysbrecht Leytens; the Adoration of the Magi probably inspired by Rubens.
On the easel: an Allegory of Vanity; beside it, unframed, Gypsy fortune tellers in a landscape in the style of Lucas van Uden; Saint Francis in a garland surround in the style of Erasmus Quellinus II and Daniel Seghers; a peasant in an interior in the style of David Ryckaert III.
On the near table: an open folio with two studies of naked men; a celestial globe, shells, a statue of Jupiter(?) and a statue of a woman holding a globe. On the far table, a statue of Venus and Cupid, porcelain and other objects. Above, in a niche on the far wall, a statue of The Rape of a Sabine in the style of Giambologna (cf. the exhibition catalogue edited by Charles Avery and Anthony Radcliffe Giambologna 1529-1608, Edinburgh, London and Vienna, 1978-1979, no. 57).
Published by Kelly in the Burlington Magazine and extensively discussed by Speth-Holterhoff, the present work is one of two signed 'gallery interiors' by Cornelis de Baellieur; the other with a different room is in the Louvre and is dated 1637. The same interior with some of the same pictures occurs in the picture in Vienna, which was described as the work of Hans Jordaens (III) when in the collection of the Archduke Leopold Wilhelm. The same interior with the colonnade outside (which is absent in the Vienna picture) occurs in the picture in the National Gallery, which has been dated c. 1620. Joachim Rees argues that the Vienna picture may be the work of collaboration between Jordaens and de Baellieur. However, the figures in the present picture are much closer to the handling of de Baellieur than of Jordaens, as is evident from a comparison with the signed pictures in the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts in Brussels and in the Herzog-Anton-Ulrich-Museum in Brunswick (see J. de Maere & M. Wabbes, Illustrated Dictionary of 17th Century Flemish Painters, Plates A-K, 1994, pp. 50 & 51). The present picture has been dated c. 1635-1640 by Speth-Holterhoff, but could have been executed a little later.