Lot Essay
The gyr falcon seen from behind and the red deer head at upper right were used, the latter with different horns, in the Ulysses
and Circe at Dresden. The front part of the red deer yearling is used, again with altered horns, in The Fable of the Fox and the Sick Lion in the Galleria Nazionale, Rome. The outlined study of a sheep's head was used for the signed Old Shepherd and his Flock sold at Sotheby's, 21 October 1964, lot 25 (a copy of which was sold at Phillips, 24 October 1989, lot 86). The head of the goat in profile is a frequently recurring motif in Ruthart's work. It is used in S. Pietro Celestino admonishing the Bear in the Church of S. Maria di Collemaggio at L'Aquila (Fr. Q. Salomone, Basilica di S. Maria di Collemaggio, L'Aquila, 1988, unpaginated, illustrated in colour) and, with different colouring, in the signed Stories of Tobias in the Hermitage (N. Nikulin and B. Asvarishch, German and Austrian Painting in the Hermitage, Leningrad, Leningrad, 1986, p.33, pl.80 and pl.81, colour detail). It also features in three paintings of herdsmen with farm animals recently identified by Mr. Fred Meijer as the work of Ruthart, one in a New York private collection, one sold at Christie's, Monaco, 3 April 1987, lot 35, and one sold in these Rooms, 8 May 1987, lot 152 (see F. G. Meijer, Enige schilderijen met vee van C. B. A. Ruthart, Oud Holland, 104, 1990, nos.3-4, p.334, figs.5-7). The pelican recurs in lot in the present sale
and Circe at Dresden. The front part of the red deer yearling is used, again with altered horns, in The Fable of the Fox and the Sick Lion in the Galleria Nazionale, Rome. The outlined study of a sheep's head was used for the signed Old Shepherd and his Flock sold at Sotheby's, 21 October 1964, lot 25 (a copy of which was sold at Phillips, 24 October 1989, lot 86). The head of the goat in profile is a frequently recurring motif in Ruthart's work. It is used in S. Pietro Celestino admonishing the Bear in the Church of S. Maria di Collemaggio at L'Aquila (Fr. Q. Salomone, Basilica di S. Maria di Collemaggio, L'Aquila, 1988, unpaginated, illustrated in colour) and, with different colouring, in the signed Stories of Tobias in the Hermitage (N. Nikulin and B. Asvarishch, German and Austrian Painting in the Hermitage, Leningrad, Leningrad, 1986, p.33, pl.80 and pl.81, colour detail). It also features in three paintings of herdsmen with farm animals recently identified by Mr. Fred Meijer as the work of Ruthart, one in a New York private collection, one sold at Christie's, Monaco, 3 April 1987, lot 35, and one sold in these Rooms, 8 May 1987, lot 152 (see F. G. Meijer, Enige schilderijen met vee van C. B. A. Ruthart, Oud Holland, 104, 1990, nos.3-4, p.334, figs.5-7). The pelican recurs in lot in the present sale