Jan van Kessel the Elder

Private collection, Spain.

The following condition report has been provided by Hamish Dewar, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. Structural Condition The artist's panel is cradled and this is ensuring an even and secure structural support. There is a horizontal join in the panel which is approximately 19 cm above the lower horizontal framing edge, and feint traces of what is probably another join which is 15 cm below the upper horizontal framing edge. Paint Surface The paint surface has a very discoloured varnish layer and would undoubtedly be transformed by cleaning. I would be very confident of a considerable colour change once the discoloured varnish layers have been removed. Inspection under ultra-violet light shows retouching along the lower of the the horizontal joins mentioned above, and other small scattered retouchings which fluoresce feintly. There are also three very small recent retouchings on the turkeys in the centre of the composition and other small scattered spots of inpainting. There may be other retouchings beneath the discoloured varnish layers which are not identifiable under ultra-violet light, but I am confident that any retouchings are minimal. The varnish layers fluoresce unevenly in the lower right of the composition. There is a vertical scratch in the varnish layers in the upper right of the sky, which is approximately 3 cm in length, and very small surface abrasions. Summary The painting would therefore appear to be in good and stable condition with considerable potential for improvement in the overall appearance should the painting be cleaned and revarnished.
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This beautifully preserved panel was almost certainly originally conceived as one of a set of allegories of the four elements, the other three, as the present work, probably following the designs of Jan Brueghel the Elder's famous set of Allegories in the Galleria Doria Pamphilij, Rome.¹ The Pamphilij paintings, also on panel, are of the same dimensions as this painting and differ only in minor details.

These compositions were immensely popular throughout the 17th century as today. Jan Brueghel the Younger, Van Kessel's uncle, is also known to have made several copies of the Allegory of Air, each of them with figures by Hendrick van Balen (who was responsible for the figures in the elder Brueghel's originals) or his circle.²  Many further replicas painted in and outside the workshops of both Brueghels survive, as do a small number of much smaller versions by Van Kessel himself (see the paintings sold in these Rooms, 10 July 1974, lot 128, and 10 December 1980, lot 329).

1. K. Ertz, Jan Brueghel der Ältere. Die Gemälde, Cologne 1979, p. 599, cat. no. 249, reproduced p. 370, fig. 440.
2. K. Ertz, Jan Brueghel the Younger, Freren 1981, cat. nos. 200, 208, 208a.