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Lot Essay
The present picture is an imaginary view of a collector's cabinet in Antwerp in the first half of the 17th century. Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598) and Justus Lipsius (1547-1606) are seated at a table on the left, dressed in archaic costume. Lipsius raises his right index-finger, as he converses with Ortelius, who holds a globe. A scientific instrument, a shell and coins are on the table. Both men belonged an important group of humanist scholars in Flanders. Ortelius, geographer and cartographer, published the first modern atlas in his Theatris Orbim Terrarum in 1570. This is probably the book opened on the table by the window on the right. He is here presented as humanist collector for he was known to have had a large collection at his home in Antwerp, catalogued by Franciscus Sweertius in 1601. Francken probably copied his portrait, attributed to Adriaen Thomas Key (1544-1589), in the J. Paul Getty Museum (D. Jaffe, Summary Catalogue of the European Paintings in the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1997, p.66), after which Ph. Galle made an engraving (Holl. 741). Justus Lipsius (1547-1606) had a peripatetic career as a teacher at the University at Louvain. He was a highly influential Latin scholar, and important for his advocac of Neo-Stoicism. His portrait is taken from Rubens' Four Philosophers, of circa 1611, in the Palazzo Pitti, Florence (H. Vlieghe, Rubens Portraits of identified Sitters painted in Antwerp, Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard etc., XIX/2, 1987, cat.no.117, fig.140).
In the room a variety of objects are on display, mostly paintings. On the left wall hangs a Salom in the style of Francken, cf. the Salom presenting the head of Saint John the Baptist (Hrting, op.cit., 1989, no.97). On the wall facing the spectator, in the top row, reading from left to right: a Landscape in the style of Jan Tilens (1589-1630), cf. the Rape of Europe by Francken en Tilens, (Hrting, op.cit., 1989, no.314); a Landscape in the style of Alexander Keirinckx, cf. the Venus and Adonis by Francken en Keirinckx, (Hrting, op. cit., no.308); Christ carrying the Cross in the style of Francken, cf. the picture reproduced by Hrting, no.214; a Winter landscape by Joos de Momper II, cf. the picture reproduced by K. Ertz, Josse de Momper der Jungere, 1986, p.584, no.431. In the second row, reading from left to right: a Moonlit landscape; a Landscape in the style of Joos de Momper; A Bacchus (?) and a Flora (?) in the style of Frans Floris; a Landscape with a village on fire in the style of Herri met de Bles, cf. the Temptation of Saint Anthony (M.J. Friedlnder, Early Netherlandish Painting, 1975, XIII, no.76, plate 39). In the centre The Flight into Egypt, in the style of Francken. On the buffet is a Madonna and Child in the style of Joos van Cleve. On the floor behind the table on the left is a Garland of flowers in the style of Jan Brueghel I, cf. collaborative works of Brueghel and Francken (Hrting, op.cit., 1989, nos.117-127, ills). On the floor on the right is probably Rubens' Conversion of Saint Paul of circa 1602 (P. Freedberg, Rubens the Life of Christ after the Passion, Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard etc., VII, 1984, no.29, fig.64.). The vase of flowers on the table on the right also occurs in a picture by Francken and Andries Daniels of circa 1618, of which two versions are known: one with Mullenmeister, Solingen (Hrting, op. cit., no.437), the other in a private collection, Cologne (Hrting, op. cit., no.438). The male portrait on the floor on the right has not been identified. According to the inscription, the sitter was aged 27 in 1618, a date which Hrting, op.cit., p.373, believes to be not only to refer to the date of the portrait but also to the date of execution of the present lot.
Two bronze sculptures are displayed on the cornice, one of which is a river god. K. van der Schueren, "De Kunstkamers van Frans Francken: een kritische analyse van de aldaar aanwezige sculptuur" in Jaarboek van het Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen, 1996. pp.59-89, describes this as probably a small copy after the antique. These copies were espacially made for display in collector's cabinets at the time. On the left and right of the sculptures there are naturalia - specimens of different types of fish and crusteceans - displayed against the top of the wall.
Z. Zaremba Filipcszak, Picturing Art in Antwerp, 1987, pp.48-56, suggests that depictions of collector's cabinets must have appealed to the "liefhebbers der consten", a term given to the great number of connoisseurs and art lovers in Antwerp, who adopted the attitude associated with the hitherto obscure, courtly, Konstkammers. The paintings contributed to the encyclopeadic scope of such collections and provided a microcosm of the wonders of the world. Hrting believes, op. cit., p.85, that paintings of a religious content were given prominence in order to show the influence of Christian virtue in the creation of such collections.
Since the Wedewer sale catalogue mentions the picture as on canvas, the transfer must have been carried out before 1925 and after 1900, when it was still with Widener, Philadelphia.
In the room a variety of objects are on display, mostly paintings. On the left wall hangs a Salom in the style of Francken, cf. the Salom presenting the head of Saint John the Baptist (Hrting, op.cit., 1989, no.97). On the wall facing the spectator, in the top row, reading from left to right: a Landscape in the style of Jan Tilens (1589-1630), cf. the Rape of Europe by Francken en Tilens, (Hrting, op.cit., 1989, no.314); a Landscape in the style of Alexander Keirinckx, cf. the Venus and Adonis by Francken en Keirinckx, (Hrting, op. cit., no.308); Christ carrying the Cross in the style of Francken, cf. the picture reproduced by Hrting, no.214; a Winter landscape by Joos de Momper II, cf. the picture reproduced by K. Ertz, Josse de Momper der Jungere, 1986, p.584, no.431. In the second row, reading from left to right: a Moonlit landscape; a Landscape in the style of Joos de Momper; A Bacchus (?) and a Flora (?) in the style of Frans Floris; a Landscape with a village on fire in the style of Herri met de Bles, cf. the Temptation of Saint Anthony (M.J. Friedlnder, Early Netherlandish Painting, 1975, XIII, no.76, plate 39). In the centre The Flight into Egypt, in the style of Francken. On the buffet is a Madonna and Child in the style of Joos van Cleve. On the floor behind the table on the left is a Garland of flowers in the style of Jan Brueghel I, cf. collaborative works of Brueghel and Francken (Hrting, op.cit., 1989, nos.117-127, ills). On the floor on the right is probably Rubens' Conversion of Saint Paul of circa 1602 (P. Freedberg, Rubens the Life of Christ after the Passion, Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard etc., VII, 1984, no.29, fig.64.). The vase of flowers on the table on the right also occurs in a picture by Francken and Andries Daniels of circa 1618, of which two versions are known: one with Mullenmeister, Solingen (Hrting, op. cit., no.437), the other in a private collection, Cologne (Hrting, op. cit., no.438). The male portrait on the floor on the right has not been identified. According to the inscription, the sitter was aged 27 in 1618, a date which Hrting, op.cit., p.373, believes to be not only to refer to the date of the portrait but also to the date of execution of the present lot.
Two bronze sculptures are displayed on the cornice, one of which is a river god. K. van der Schueren, "De Kunstkamers van Frans Francken: een kritische analyse van de aldaar aanwezige sculptuur" in Jaarboek van het Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen, 1996. pp.59-89, describes this as probably a small copy after the antique. These copies were espacially made for display in collector's cabinets at the time. On the left and right of the sculptures there are naturalia - specimens of different types of fish and crusteceans - displayed against the top of the wall.
Z. Zaremba Filipcszak, Picturing Art in Antwerp, 1987, pp.48-56, suggests that depictions of collector's cabinets must have appealed to the "liefhebbers der consten", a term given to the great number of connoisseurs and art lovers in Antwerp, who adopted the attitude associated with the hitherto obscure, courtly, Konstkammers. The paintings contributed to the encyclopeadic scope of such collections and provided a microcosm of the wonders of the world. Hrting believes, op. cit., p.85, that paintings of a religious content were given prominence in order to show the influence of Christian virtue in the creation of such collections.
Since the Wedewer sale catalogue mentions the picture as on canvas, the transfer must have been carried out before 1925 and after 1900, when it was still with Widener, Philadelphia.