South Netherlandish School, circa 1530/40

In the family of the present owner for more than 80 years.

The actual painting is a little less red and a bit more green in tone than the catalogue illustration suggests. The panel consists of 2 horizontal planks. The panel is in good condition and is milled to the reverse along the lower and left edges. No damages are apparent and the paint layer is secure, with the impasto in the highlights nicely preserved. Some minor retouchings can be observed along the join and in the background. There's a minor spot of paint loss in the upper left corner. The paint surface is under a dirty varnish layer. Inspection under UV light reveals some minor strengthening here and there, e.g. in the tree and in the clothes of Saint Anthony. Offered in a decorative wood parcel gilt cassetta style frame with some chips.
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This painting comes from the same workshop as the Antonius-retable in the Propsteikirche St. Mariae Geburt, Kempen.¹ The wings of the retable are by the same hand as the present work, which is particularly evident in the figure types, the distinctive underdrawing, and in the characteristic palette of cool blue tones. In style and execution, both this work and the panels of the Antonius-retable are strongly reminiscent of the works of Jan van Dornicke, which suggests that the artist was at some point active in the latter's workshop.

The story of the meeting of Saint Anthony Abbot and Saint Paul the Hermit is a rare one in 16^th Century Netherlandish art. Traditionally, Saint Paul was the first of the desert hermits of Egypt, who, when he was ninety years old, was visited by Saint Anthony who remained with him until his death. Uniquely, in this painting the life of Paul the hermit is presented as a continuous narrative in a unified landscape; Paul was fed by a raven that brought him bread every day, and the lions in the background helped to dig Paul's grave.

We are grateful to Peter van den Brink, Director of the Aachen City Museums, for his help in cataloguing this lot.

1. See R. Mulder, 'Infraroodreflectografisch onderzoek van het Jacobus- en Antoniusretabel in de Propsteikirche te Kempen', in Peter van den Brink & Liesbeth Helmus (eds.), Album Discipulorum J.R.J. van Asperen de Boer, Zwolle 1997, pp. 136-45, and G. Hoffmann, 'Das Antwerpener Antoniusretabel in Kempen. Ein Flügelaltar mit gestalteter Rückseite', in Wallraf-Richartz Jahrbuch, LXVIII, 2007, pp. 265-74.