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Lot Essay
The prototype, dated 1552, on panel, 84 x 172 cm, entered the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam in 1839, when it was purchased from Colonel von Schepeler, Aachen (see P.J.J. van Thiel, All the Paintings of the Rijksmuseum, 1976, p.79, no.A3, ill.).
It shows Aertsen at the height of his artistic career. Characteristic are the close-up rendering of the main protagonists, providing a clear division between the foreground and the background. The scene is inspired by 16th Century prints and is connected with the subject of Combat between Carnival and Lent (see Hieronymus Bosch's picture in the Catharijneconvent, Utrecht). Aertsen's merit consists in the fact that he lifted the scene from its Christian annotation and created a genre scene in the true sense.
It shows Aertsen at the height of his artistic career. Characteristic are the close-up rendering of the main protagonists, providing a clear division between the foreground and the background. The scene is inspired by 16th Century prints and is connected with the subject of Combat between Carnival and Lent (see Hieronymus Bosch's picture in the Catharijneconvent, Utrecht). Aertsen's merit consists in the fact that he lifted the scene from its Christian annotation and created a genre scene in the true sense.