The Procession of the Bride

This Procession of the Bride belongs to Marten van Cleve's celebrated Wedding Cycle, a series of seven compositions depicting episodes from a peasant wedding. The buxom bride, her skirts lifted by two page boys, is led in procession by a bagpiper in bold yellow hose. The overcast sky and wind-tossed foliage lend the scene an autumnal mood recalling the work of Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Numerous surviving versions of these compositions attest to their popularity, likely produced with workshop assistance to meet demand. A Blessing of the Bridal Bed by van Cleve (sold Christie's, Amsterdam, 21 November 2013, for €91,500) may once have been part of the same now-dispersed set as the present panel.

Trained in the Antwerp studio of Frans Floris, van Cleve soon abandoned his master's Italianate manner for a distinctly Flemish naturalism. Once dismissed as a follower of Brueghel, he is now recognized for the originality of his multi-figured compositions—qualities well demonstrated here.

The painting was formerly in the collection of Robbert Fack, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United Kingdom and later Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the United Nations.