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Lot Essay
The present drawing is a study for a detail in the painting Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia and her entourage in the park at Mariemont in the Prado, Madrid (inv. 1429, Ertz, op. cit., no. 563) (Fig. 1). The three deer depicted in the foreground of the drawing appear far right. Brueghel rearranged the group slightly in the painting, moving the left-hand deer to the right, but otherwise the position of the animals remains the same.
The Prado picture was commissioned by the Archduke Albert VII and his wife Isabella Clara Eugenia and was one of a large series. Although Brueghel was never appointed official painter to the Spanish court he did have a close relationship with Albert VII and his wife and executed numerous paintings for them. The Prado picture was dated around 1620 by Ertz and based on this, he suggested a date for the drawing of around 1618. However he noted that on stylistic grounds, a later date should not be entirely ruled out. An earlier date of around 1611 was suggested by Winner in his 1972 article (Winner, op. cit., p. 155).
This is one of the few known drawings by Jan Brueghel the Elder depicting animals. Brueghel's masterly draughtsmanship can be seen in his delicate use of pen and wash as well as the treatment of perspective in this unusual piece. Another more sketchy drawing by Brueghel, also showing deer, was with Bob Haboldt in 2002 (see N.J. Habraken and G. Freuler, Singular vision, Amsterdam, 2012, p. 196).
We are grateful to Louisa Wood Ruby who has confirmed the attribution and will include the drawing in her forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the drawings of Jan Brueghel the Elder.
Fig. 1. Jan Brueghel the Elder, Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia and her entourage in the park at Mariemont, oil on canvas, Museo del Prado, Madrid © Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado.
The Prado picture was commissioned by the Archduke Albert VII and his wife Isabella Clara Eugenia and was one of a large series. Although Brueghel was never appointed official painter to the Spanish court he did have a close relationship with Albert VII and his wife and executed numerous paintings for them. The Prado picture was dated around 1620 by Ertz and based on this, he suggested a date for the drawing of around 1618. However he noted that on stylistic grounds, a later date should not be entirely ruled out. An earlier date of around 1611 was suggested by Winner in his 1972 article (Winner, op. cit., p. 155).
This is one of the few known drawings by Jan Brueghel the Elder depicting animals. Brueghel's masterly draughtsmanship can be seen in his delicate use of pen and wash as well as the treatment of perspective in this unusual piece. Another more sketchy drawing by Brueghel, also showing deer, was with Bob Haboldt in 2002 (see N.J. Habraken and G. Freuler, Singular vision, Amsterdam, 2012, p. 196).
We are grateful to Louisa Wood Ruby who has confirmed the attribution and will include the drawing in her forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the drawings of Jan Brueghel the Elder.
Fig. 1. Jan Brueghel the Elder, Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia and her entourage in the park at Mariemont, oil on canvas, Museo del Prado, Madrid © Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado.