David Teniers the Elder

Collection Van Horen, Sint Truiden, Belgium, by 1870;
From whom acquired by the great grandfather of the present owners.

Breda, De Beyerd, Oude Kunst uit particulier bezit in Breda en Baronie, 24 December 1958 - 26 January 1959, no. 25.

Oude Kunst uit particulier bezit: een tentoonstelling van schilderijen, beelhouwwerken, en voorwerpen van kunstnijverheid, exhibition catalogue, Breda 1959, cat. no.25;
E. Duverger and H. Vlieghe, David Teniers der Ältere. Ein vergessener Flämischer Nachfolger Adam Elsheimers, Utrecht 1971, p. 78, under c.- Heilige.

The actual painting is less red and deeper in tone than the catalogue illustration suggests. The panel seems to consist of 5 horizontal planks and has been cradled. The joins have been retouched to the front. No major damages seem to be apparent, but there is a tendency towards flaking, particularly in the trees on the left, in the sky and along the right edge. Otherwise, the impasto and texture of the paint layer have been nicely preserved. A few scattered retouchings can be observed in the sky, in the background upper right, and in the figure. The paint surface is covered with a dull and dirty layer of varnish. Inspection under Ultra-Violet light is completely impeded by the old varnish layer. Offered in a plain, red painted wood frame, in fair condition. (MW)
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Not many works by David Teniers the Elder have come down to us, but he painted landscapes, religious and mythological scenes. He trained his much more succesful son, David Teniers the Younger, with whom he collaborated after 1626. Teniers the Elder was active in Rome where he befriended Adam Elsheimer, whose work influenced Teniers, particularly in the composition of his landscapes.¹ The freer execution and simpler tonality indicate that this work may have been painted in the later years of his career.

The figure of Saint James the Greater appears to be by a different hand.

1. See Jan de Maere and M. Wabbes, Illustrated Dictionary of 17th-Century Flemish painters, Brussels 1994, text vol., pp. 386-7.