Hendrik van Steenwijck the Younger

The Earl of Sunderland, Althorp House, Northamptonshire, by 1732, when seen by George Vertue;
By inheritance to the Hon. John Spencer (1708-1746), at Althorp, by 1746, when listed by Knapton (see Literature) as hanging in The Eating Room, no. 182, and in 1750, when recorded in a catalogue as hanging in The Little Parlour (see Literature);
Thence by descent at Althorp (hanging in the Library there in 1802) to Edward John (1924-1992), 8th Earl Spencer, some time after 1976;
With Artemis, London, 1981;
Joseph R. Ritman, Amsterdam, by 1984;
Private collection, The Netherlands.

Edinburgh, National Gallery of Scotland, Dutch Church Painters: Saenredam's Great Church at Haarlem in context, 1984, no. 7.

Noticed by George Vertue, Note Book, 1732 ms. (as 'Saint Mark and his Lion'), transcribed and published as "Vertue's Note Book" in The Walpole Society, vol. XXIV, 1935-36, p. 39;
G. Knapton, Catalogue of the Pictures at Althorpe and Wimbledon belonging to the late Hon^ble M^r Spencer, 25 October 1746, no. 182, as hanging in The Eating Room;
Catalogue of pictures at Althorp, 1750, in the Little Parlour;
Noticed by H. Walpole, ms. notebook of 1759, published as "Horace Walpole's Journals of Visits to Country Seats" (transcribed and ed. P. Toynbee), in The Walpole Society, vol. XVI, 1927-28, p. 31;
Catalogue of pictures at Althorp, 1802, as hanging in the Library, to the left of the chimney;
Catalogue of pictures at Althorp, 1851, no. 102;
K.J. Garlick, "A Catalogue of Pictures at Althorp", in The Walpole Society, vol. XLV, 1974-76, p. 80, no. 620, (also p. 99, no. 182, p. 108, p. 118, where the Althorp catalogues of Knapton, 1746, and anon., 1750, are also published);
U. Härting, Frans Francken D.J. Flämische Maler im Umkreis der grossen Meister, Freren 1989, p. 165;
N. Babina, Architectural Genre in Flemish Painting of the 17th Century (from material of the Hermitage collection), unpublished dissertation, St. Petersburg 1995, p. 53;
J. Howarth, The Steenwyck Family as Masters of Perspective, Turnhout 2009, p. 237, cat. no. II.D 10.

The following condition report is provided by Sarah Walden who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting is on a fine oak panel with quite a broad strip of canvas across the lower part behind. However there is no trace of movement in the front of the panel. At present there is a Perspex backboard to create a micro climate in the frame. The panel appears entirely stable and secure structurally. The only incidental marks in the paint surface, with slightly darkened old retouching, are small scratches at the side of the opening on the left, minute marks on the floor tiles and one long slanting old scratch crossing from the altar piece on the left down across to the threshold of the corridor at centre right. There are also a few little darkened touches on the wall above the central shelf and over the fireplace. However these are all very minor surface imperfections in a beautifully intact painting. The delicacy of the minute signature at lower left epitomises the discretion and purity of the geometric detail throughout, with fine incised lines and impasted strokes marking the perspective of the floor and the rafters in the ceiling of St Jerome’s study. From the gentle description of the lion and the Saint and the exquisite minute crucifixion at the far end of the passage on the right, every minutely calibrated detail is intact and unworn. This report was not done under laboratory conditions.
"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."

Although Hendrick van Steenwijck the Younger is probably best known for his paintings of church interiors, he also painted several other highly detailed religious scenes, of which this painting is a superb example. Here we see Saint Jerome, unusually wearing not his traditional red coat, but a blue one, seated at his desk in his study, writing. Behind him on a shelf above the panelled cupboard are books and bottles. A clock stands on the edge of the shelf and one of the doors of the cupboard is open, revealing even more books. His red cardinal's hat is hanging from the cupboard, as are carefully posted notes held in place by taut red ribbons. To the left we see what looks to be a private altar, whose wings are shut. To the right there is a view down a corridor to a chapel, in which a painted altarpiece representing Christ on the cross is visible. The lion, St. Jerome's attribute, is calmly lying in front of the fireplace. The light is coming from the left, through an open stone archway and a window, illuminating the room very delicately, giving the whole space a sense of quiet tranquillity. The cool and almost pastel colours add to this sense of serenity. Steenwijck shows here his great talent for creating a sense of peaceful atmosphere within his paintings, and this is particularly suited to the depiction of Jerome who was traditionally associated with the notion of theological and contemplative life.

Hendrick van Steenwijck the Younger left Antwerp for London in or shortly before 1617, and remained there until at least 1637.  By the time of Charles I's accession in 1625, Steenwijck was well established at Court.  He was clearly on good terms with Anthony van Dyck, who included his own portrait of him in his engraved Iconography. The present picture was painted when Steenwijck was at the height of his powers and at the peak of his popularity.  Painted in London, it is likely that it remained in England until the last quarter of the 20th century, and for at least 250 years, in the same family.  

Steenwijck the Younger is known to have painted this scene on more than one occasion; the examples at Welbeck Abbey, dated 1624, and at the Museo Borgogna, Vercelli, of 1619, being most closely related to this work. Together with the Borgogna version (which is 37.5 by 57.5 cm.) it is one of his largest representations of the scene, the majority being rather smaller in size.

The tradition of depicting St Jerome in his study developed from Jan van Eyck to Albrecht Dürer, who depicted him both in the wilderness and in his study translating the Bible. Dürer's engraving of 1514, of which an example is in the British Museum, London (inv. no. PD 1868-8-22-185) must have been known to Steenwijck the Younger's father, whose brother-in-law, Frederick van Valckenborch was particularly interested in Dürer and owned a collection of Dürer's letters to the Frankfurt patrician Jacob Heller.¹  Through his father, Hendrick van Steenwijck the Elder, also an artist of church interiors, Steenwijck the Younger must have become familiar with Dürer's way of representing Saint Jerome. However, whereas in Dürer's print the saint and the lion dominate the composition, in Steenwijck's versions, as seen here, they take on a less obvious role, the focus being more on the setting than the man himself.

For more information on the Hon. John Spencer and the collections at Althorp see the note to the painting by Luca Giordano (lot 36) in this sale.


1. See Howarth, under literature, pp. 54-5