Pieter Brueghel the Younger

Lord Trevor, London;
His sale, London, Christie's, July 9, 1982, lot 89;
Linda and Gerald Guterman;
Their sale, New York, Sotheby's, January 14, 1988, lot 5, where acquired by the present owner.

London, Royal Academy, Flemish and Belgian Art 1300-1900, 1927, no. 233.

G. Marlier, Pierre Brueghel le Jeune, Brussels 1969, p. 85, cat. no. 21;
K. Ertz, Pieter Brueghel der Jüngere (1564 - 1637/38), Lingen 2000, vol. I, pp. 313-314, cat. no. 245, reproduced p. 314.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This panel is unreinforced on the reverse and although quite noticeably curved from top to bottom, the painting itself is in lovely condition. The surface has been cleaned and varnished. The only retouches of note are situated in the snowy roof on the far left, a few spots in the sky above the chimneys and in the rooftop in the center. There appears to have been no abrasion and this is an opportunity to see this great artist's work in lovely condition. The curve in the panel should be allowed to remain but discussions could also be had as to whether attempts should be made to lessen the curve.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The Adoration of the Magi, was one of Pieter Brueghel the Younger's the most popular subjects, and he treated it in three distinct compositions.  The present picture is based on a painting by his father, dated 1563, now in the Oskar Reinhardt collection, Winterthur.¹  Following his death in 1569, the demand for Pieter Brueghel the Elder's works soared.  By 1609 when Cardinal Federico Borromeo asked about acquiring one, Pieter's younger brother Jan had to tell his patron that the only available painting was Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery, which he himself owned.²  It was no doubt this desire for his father's works that prompted Pieter Brueghel the Younger to paint his own versions of certain compositions.  In his monograph on Pieter the Younger (see literature), Ertz lists 37 versions of this composition, of which 27 are autograph.³  He considers this sparkling panel, which he saw in person, to be undoubtedly the work of Pieter Brueghel the Younger.⁴

Although he has based this painting closely based on his father's composition, Pieter Brueghel sets the scene under bright but overcast sky enlivened with birds, rather than during a snowfall.  Its appeal to a seventeenth or a twenty-first century audience is apparent.  The touching story of the Magis' appearance is set in a contemporary Flemish village.  They and the Holy Family are in a dilapidated manger, tucked off into the extreme left of the composition, while all but a few villagers, go on with their daily life, in apparent ignorance of the extraordinary event.  In the right foreground a child in a crude sled propels himself across the ice, while men carry buckets of water from a hole cut for the purpose.  The presence of soldiers and their baggage train would have struck a warning note with Brueghel's contemporaries, but we are more struck by the comic quality of the over-laden donkeys than by the Hapsburg coat of arms on their blankets.  Whether Brueghel ever saw his father's painting is an open question, for the only seventeenth century document refers simply to 'a small painting in which it is snowing.'⁵ What is clear is that he made the composition his own, and was rewarded for it by an enthusiastic public.

 

1  The date has been traditionally read as 1567, but closer technical examination has established that is its 1563.  See D. Allart, Op. cit., p. 52 and p. 57, n. 55.  K. Ertz, see Literature, pp. 299-304, has strongly questioned the attribution of the Winterthur picture, but most other commentators accept it.
2  D. Allart, in P. van Brink, ed., Brueghel Enterprises, exhibition catalogue, Maastricht and Brussels 2001, p.47.
3  K. Ertz, Op. cit., pp. 310-16.
4  Ibid., p. 313,  'an der Zuschriebung als eigenhändig bestehen keine Zweifel.'
5  P. van Brink, ed., Brueghel Enterprises, exhibition catalogue, Maastricht and Brussels 2001, p. 52.