Lambert van Noort

Laid down and window mounted. Minor creases and tears towards edges. Some surface dirt and foxing and slightly abraded towards top. Ink and wash generally still strong.
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Though unsigned, this drawing can be associated with a series of six extremely similar works that emerged at a Dutch auction in 2002¹, which Zsuzsanna van Ruyven-Zeman subsequently discussed, and put into the context of Van Noort's other studies for glass panels.²  Those drawings all share the same format, otherwise unknown in Van Noort's work, of a rectangle with a semicircular top, and all are executed in pen and ink and reddish-brown wash, with none of the blue wash that is otherwise frequently found in the artist's drawings. 

Although united by their unusual format, the subjects of the various drawings do not indicate that they were necessarily part of a single series or project: three sheets relate to the annunciation of the birth of the Old Testament hero Samson, while the others depict The conversion of the queen of Upper India by Thomas, Joseph has the sacks of his brothers filled with corn, and Rebecca chosen by Eliezer as bride for Isaac.  Dr. Paul Taylor, of the Warburg Institute, has very kindly identified the rare subject of the present composition, taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke, Chapter 18, which closes:  "..everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

Due to their close stylistic relationship with the work of Jan Swart from the 1540s, Van Ruyven-Zeman places these drawings early in Van Noort's career, around 1555.  

1. Sale, Amsterdam, Glerum, 4 November 2002, lot 99 (as workshop of Crabeth)
2. Z. van Ruyven-Zeman, 'Lambert van Noort als ontwerper van glasramen, een addendum,' Delineavit et Sculpsit, no. 32 (July 2009), pp. 1-22, the drawings reproduced figs. 5-10