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Lot Essay
Herri met de Bles was the next, known, Flemish painter after Joachim Patinier (circa 1480-1524) to have specialized in the genre of landscape. There is uncertainty about the place and date of his birth: Guicciardini (1567) and Vasari (1568) give Dinant, but Lampsonius (1572), Van Mander (1604) and Sandrart (1675) mention Bouviges as his birthplace. These two towns are only a few miles apart from each other on opposite sides of the river Meuse, so the difference of opinion is not of great significance. In Domenicus Lampsonius' pictorum aliquot celebrium Germaniae inferioris effigies, Antwerp 1572, "Henricus Blesius Bovinati pictori" is portrayed at the age of forty, showing the type of clothing and haircut that was fashionable around 1550. A birthday around 1510 seems therefore plausible. The identification of Herri met de Bles with "Herri de Patinier" who was in 1535 admitted to the Antwerp guild is generally accepted. Van Mander (Schilder-boeck, 1603/04, Fol.219v.) mentions several works that were regarded as his and this author also writes that De Bles was appreciated among connoisseurs in Amsterdam, Prague and Italy.
The present painting shows an extensive landscape with Saint Jerome in a grotto, kneeling in prayer before a crucifix, while beating his breast with a stone. His faithful lion hides among the shrubs. The subject matter derives from Patinier; several subsidiary scenes can also be found in Patinier's famous Saint Jerome in the Louvre (inv. 2429), for example the boy leading a blind man away from the hermit and the monastery on the right. This motif of the blind pilgrim and his guide, which also appears in other works by Bles, refers to the false nature of the pilgrimage (See Reindert Falkenburg, Joachim Patinir: Landscape as an image of the Pilgrimage of Life, Amsterdam/Philadelphia 1988, pp.95/6). In the middle distance a scene from the Legenda Aurea is depicted: an ass from the monastery where Saint Jerome lived later in his life, was stolen by robbers from a passing caravan. The two foreground figures can be interpreted as pilgrims, who had to follow the arduous path in order to regain the lost homeland and achieve union with God (See Falkenburg, op. cit., passim).
Above Saint Jerome a little owl is depicted. This motif has, from the late sixteenth century onwards, both in the Netherlands and Italy, always been taken as the "hallmark" of works by Herri met de Bles. Lomazzo (Trattoto dell'arte de la pittura, Milan 1584, p.475) refers to the painter as "Henrico Blessio Boemo, chiamata de la civetta [little owl], principal pittore di paesi", while Karel van Mander (Schilder-boeck, 1603/04, Fol.219v.) calls him "Den Meester van den Wl" (The master of the owl). Ever since, numerous sixteenth century paintings in which an owl is depicted have been attributed to De Bles. These works show however little stylistic unity, so it is arguable whether the owl is the signature of one artist.
The painting is stylistically closely related to pictures which are described in early sources as by De Bles or Civetta. These include A Landscape with a peddlar and monkeys in the Gemldegalerie, Dresden (inv. 806) and the Landscape with coppermines in the Uffizi, Florence (inv. 1051). Distinctive characteristics are the foliage which is rendered with highlights and the distant rock formations, which are formed by a thin, transparent blue glaze. The landscapes by Patinier and his direct followers such as Lucas Gassel (circa 1500-after 1568) and the Master of the Female Half Lengths (circa 1490-after 1532) are distinghuised by strong colourful accents and an accumulation of details. In contrast, De Bles introduced, as can be clearly seen in the present work, a more unified landscape, rendered with more subdued colours.
Several paintings by or associated with De Bles exist in more than one version. This is not the case with the present lot, of which no other versions are known, this might indicate that it originates from the earliest period of his career, before he acquired studio assistants.
The present painting shows an extensive landscape with Saint Jerome in a grotto, kneeling in prayer before a crucifix, while beating his breast with a stone. His faithful lion hides among the shrubs. The subject matter derives from Patinier; several subsidiary scenes can also be found in Patinier's famous Saint Jerome in the Louvre (inv. 2429), for example the boy leading a blind man away from the hermit and the monastery on the right. This motif of the blind pilgrim and his guide, which also appears in other works by Bles, refers to the false nature of the pilgrimage (See Reindert Falkenburg, Joachim Patinir: Landscape as an image of the Pilgrimage of Life, Amsterdam/Philadelphia 1988, pp.95/6). In the middle distance a scene from the Legenda Aurea is depicted: an ass from the monastery where Saint Jerome lived later in his life, was stolen by robbers from a passing caravan. The two foreground figures can be interpreted as pilgrims, who had to follow the arduous path in order to regain the lost homeland and achieve union with God (See Falkenburg, op. cit., passim).
Above Saint Jerome a little owl is depicted. This motif has, from the late sixteenth century onwards, both in the Netherlands and Italy, always been taken as the "hallmark" of works by Herri met de Bles. Lomazzo (Trattoto dell'arte de la pittura, Milan 1584, p.475) refers to the painter as "Henrico Blessio Boemo, chiamata de la civetta [little owl], principal pittore di paesi", while Karel van Mander (Schilder-boeck, 1603/04, Fol.219v.) calls him "Den Meester van den Wl" (The master of the owl). Ever since, numerous sixteenth century paintings in which an owl is depicted have been attributed to De Bles. These works show however little stylistic unity, so it is arguable whether the owl is the signature of one artist.
The painting is stylistically closely related to pictures which are described in early sources as by De Bles or Civetta. These include A Landscape with a peddlar and monkeys in the Gemldegalerie, Dresden (inv. 806) and the Landscape with coppermines in the Uffizi, Florence (inv. 1051). Distinctive characteristics are the foliage which is rendered with highlights and the distant rock formations, which are formed by a thin, transparent blue glaze. The landscapes by Patinier and his direct followers such as Lucas Gassel (circa 1500-after 1568) and the Master of the Female Half Lengths (circa 1490-after 1532) are distinghuised by strong colourful accents and an accumulation of details. In contrast, De Bles introduced, as can be clearly seen in the present work, a more unified landscape, rendered with more subdued colours.
Several paintings by or associated with De Bles exist in more than one version. This is not the case with the present lot, of which no other versions are known, this might indicate that it originates from the earliest period of his career, before he acquired studio assistants.