An Allegory of the Four Seasons

The present picture is sold with a certificate from Dr. Ursula Härting in which she confirms the attribution of this collaborative work to Govaerts and Francken. She dates the picture to circa 1622, a period when the two artists worked together on several other pictures that include Europa adorning Jupiter in the guise of a Bull, dated 1621, in the Koninklijk Museum, Antwerp, The Five Senses, dated to 1620, in the Louvre, Paris and an Allegory of Earth, sold in these Rooms, 9 April 1990, lot 42 (£75,000). For a discussion of the these and other collaborations by the two artists, see U. Härting, Frans Francken der Jüngere, Freren, 1989, pp. 130-4.

The picture will be included as no. 89 in Dr. Ursula Härting and Kathleen Borms's forthcoming monograph, Abraham Govaerts - Der Waldmaler, due for publication in December 2003.