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Lot Essay
The Flemish painter Vincent Sellaer was, with Michiel Coxcie, the principal artist active in the mid-16th century in Mechelen, a city which had become the cultural center of the Netherlands during the reign of Margaret of Austria. He has been convincingly identified with Vincent Geldersman who, according to van Mander, was known for his depictions of women from the Bible and mythology. It has been suggested that he may have visited France and worked at Fontainebleau. Additionally, a Lombard influence in his work would seem to indicate time spent in Northern Italy, where he is supposed to have worked with Moretto da Brescia. He appears to have been most receptive, however, to the designs and style of Leonardo da Vinci and his Milanese followers. Only one signed picture by him survives, the Christ Blessing the Children of 1538 (Munich, Alte Pinakothek), which has led to attributions of several compositions, including Caritas (Madrid, Prado), the Holy Kinship (Stockholm, Nationalmuseum) and Judith (Berne, Kunstmuseum).
Conceived with a monumentality of form typical of Sellaer’s works, the La Salle Holy Kinship appears to be a unique composition by the artist, although he treated the subject on numerous occasions. A popular subject in Northern Renaissance Europe, paintings of the Holy Kinship traditionally represent the Virgin and Child surrounded by numerous members of their extended family, which according to late medieval apocrypha included progeny from Saint Anne’s two previous marriages. Sellaer pares this extensive family tree down to its six principle protagonists, namely Joseph and Zacharias, who converse at left, and Mary, Elizabeth, Christ and John the Baptist. The figures are rendered with polished brushwork and accentuated with lustrous highlights, which are, in turn, offset by the strikingly dark background. In this way, Sellaer imbues the painting with a dramatic, Leonardesque spirituality. The naturalistically rendered parrot in the foreground, with its silky green feathers, is a traditional symbol of the Virgin and her purity. According to medieval bestiaries, the bird was believed to make its nests in eastern regions so as to avoid muddying its colorful plumage when it rained, and was thus associated with the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. Moreover, as a bird capable of speech, the parrot’s most common call was understood to be the word “Ave”, the beginning of Gabriel’s greeting to Mary during the Annunciation.
Conceived with a monumentality of form typical of Sellaer’s works, the La Salle Holy Kinship appears to be a unique composition by the artist, although he treated the subject on numerous occasions. A popular subject in Northern Renaissance Europe, paintings of the Holy Kinship traditionally represent the Virgin and Child surrounded by numerous members of their extended family, which according to late medieval apocrypha included progeny from Saint Anne’s two previous marriages. Sellaer pares this extensive family tree down to its six principle protagonists, namely Joseph and Zacharias, who converse at left, and Mary, Elizabeth, Christ and John the Baptist. The figures are rendered with polished brushwork and accentuated with lustrous highlights, which are, in turn, offset by the strikingly dark background. In this way, Sellaer imbues the painting with a dramatic, Leonardesque spirituality. The naturalistically rendered parrot in the foreground, with its silky green feathers, is a traditional symbol of the Virgin and her purity. According to medieval bestiaries, the bird was believed to make its nests in eastern regions so as to avoid muddying its colorful plumage when it rained, and was thus associated with the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. Moreover, as a bird capable of speech, the parrot’s most common call was understood to be the word “Ave”, the beginning of Gabriel’s greeting to Mary during the Annunciation.