Workshop of Jan Joest von Calcar

Cremer Collection, Dortmund;
Thence by descent to the present owner.

H. Voss, Collection Geh. Kommerzienrat Cremer, vol. I, Dortmund 1914, p. 29, I 18, no. 585.

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The support is oak. The wings have vertical splits which are unstable and causing deformation to the panels; the paint is also raised and insecure. There is evidence of extensive, but excessive and imprecise restoration. The two central panels also have vertical joins but these are stable; unfortunately, the paint is raised and insecure and there is evidence of past and recent loss. Again the restoration is excessive to the damage it covers. There are areas of good preserved paint, including the embroidered edges to the clothes and the finer details to the hair and faces. The varnish is discoloured and degraded and considerable tonal improvement would be achieved with its' removal. Offered in a shaped red and black painted frame with gilt sight edge with some chips."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

The handling of the present lot can be compared to Jan Joest von Calcar's shutters of the high altar in the Church of St. Nicholas in Calcar and the altarpiece in the Cathedral of Palencia, which together form the cornerstone of the artist's oeuvre. In particular, the treatment of the Christ and the Woman of Samaria is similar, though with the composition reversed, to a corresponding panel from the Calcar altarpiece.¹

 

1. See M. J. Friedländer, Early Netherlandish Painting, Vol. IX, Part I, Leyden 1972, p. 51, cat. no. 1, reproduced pl. 3(d).