Crispin van den Broeck (Mechelen 1523-1589/91 Antwerp)
PROPERTY FROM A PALM BEACH PRIVATE COLLECTION
Crispin van den Broeck (Mechelen 1523-1589/91 Antwerp)

The Crossing of the Red Sea

Details
Crispin van den Broeck (Mechelen 1523-1589/91 Antwerp)
The Crossing of the Red Sea
oil on canvas
66 ¾ x 92 in. (169.6 x 233.7 cm.)
Provenance
Private collection, Molins de Rei, Barcelona; Fernando Durán Subastas de Arte, Madrid, 9 May 1997, lot 28.
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, Amsterdam, 3 May 1999, lot 41.
with Jack Kilgore, New York and London, by 2000.
Literature
M. Díaz Padrón, 'Algunas pinturas inéditas de Crispin van den Broeck en España (un homólogo del Greco en los Países Bajos)', Studies in the History of Art, no. 13, Washington, 1984, pp. 78-9, fig. 2.

Lot Essay

This rare, large-scale work by Crispin van den Broeck illustrates an episode in the biblical narrative of the escape of the Israelites, led by Moses, from the pursuing Egyptians (Exodus 13:17-14:29). A number of sizeable works by van den Broeck are listed in historic sources. However, very few of them are known today and, besides a handful of large altarpieces in churches in Italy and Antwerp, only two of a size comparable to the present picture are known in public collections: the first, Christ healing the Stricken at Bethesda (signed and dated 1577; Royal Collection, Hampton Court); and the Battle of Roman Horsemen (Kulturhistorisch Museum of Stralsund, Sweden) (see. P. Wescher, 'Cripstin van den Broeck as Painter', in Jaarboek van het Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten te Antwerpen, 1974, pp. 171-4).

We are grateful to Dr. Thomas Fusenig for confirming the attribution to Crispin van den Broeck.

More from Old Master Paintings and Sculpture

View All
View All