Dirck van Delen

With Leger and Son, London, September 1937.

Advertisement in Apollo, September 1937, p. 122; 
T.T. Blade, The Paintings of Dirck van Delen, dissertation, University of Minnesota 1976, p. 250, cat. no. 102, reproduced fig. 144.

The following condition report is provided by Rebecca Gregg, who is an external expert and not an employee of Sotheby's. The panel support appears in relatively good condition. There is a minor planar deformation running horizontally across the panel in the upper quadrant, 3-4cm from the upper panel join. This appears to be the site of a repaired split, there is evidence that this area is subject to further movement. The right quarter of the lowest join also appears to be re-opening, at present there does not appear to be any significant paint loss. The movement of the paint layers appears to be a result of constriction of the panel, there is a cradle attached to the reverse and almost all of the vertical moving members are not free to move. There is a series of additional buttons along the site of the split on the reverse, which appears to have occurred since the cradle was attached. Simply adjusting the movable cradle members would significantly reduce the risk of further constriction of the panel. The paint layers appear in good condition, overall the adhesion between the paint and ground layers and the support appears stable. There is an area of lifting paint along the repaired split from the left edge. This has not resulted in any losses to the paint layers; however it is vulnerable and required consolidation. This could be achieved locally. The right side of the repaired split shows signs of very slight lifting along the join, as does the left edge of the lower panel join. There are very minor scuff marks along the edges of the panel as a result of minor framing damage. There is evidence of retouching present across the panel, the panel joins and split have been retouched, there are also multiple scattered over-paint throughout. Most prominently the sky appears glazed and the darker elements of the composition re-enforced. The varnish layer is thinly applied and does not show signs of discolouration.
"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."

Amongst van Delen's most elaborate and successful compositions, this splendid palace courtyard has been dated by Blade (see Literature) to the mid 1630s. Rivalled by only a handful of paintings for the opulence of its baroque architectural setting, the scene is lent further splendour by the skilfully executed throng of well-dressed figures, painted by Anthonie Palamedesz., that populate the central foreground. Palamedesz. provided the figures for a number of van Delen's best works, including  the large canvas in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, of 1640 and the 1641 dated Palace exterior in the Niedersachische Landesgalerie, Hanover.¹ In several other works Palamedesz' figures themselves become the focus of the painting, filling the majority of the picture plane, and van Delen's setting is relegated to a supporting role; see, for example, the Musical company in a palace interior in the Boijmans van Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam.²

Although van Delen often borrowed motifs from the graphic works of Hans and Paul Vredeman de Vries this setting seems to be entirely of van Delen's own imagination. His earlier works, prior to circa 1630, are rather more sedate and reliant on the Vredeman de Vries designs, but by the time he painted the present work the fullness of the Antwerp Baroque style had taken a firm grasp of him; his palette is brighter and lighter, his architecture is dominated by pink, white and black marble, and decorated with an excess of sculpture.

1. Blade, op. cit., cat. Nos. 63 and 64 respectively, reproduced figs. 70 and 81.
2. Ibid., cat. no. 54, reproduced fig. 147.