Jan Breughel the Younger, Hendrick van Balen the Younger

With Siegfried Kuhnke, Munich, 1982;
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 9 December 2005, lot 114.

Weltkunst, 52, 15 October 1982, p. 2773, advertisement, reproduced (as by Hendrick van Balen);
K. Ertz, Jan Breughel de Jüngere, Freren 1984, p. 382, cat. no. 217, reproduced.

The copper plate is flat and stable, the paint surface is relatively clean and the varnish is clear and largely even. Inspection under ultraviolet light reveals minor, scattered pinprick retouching to the back of the nude in the centre and the putto to her left, as well as to two diagonal, superficial surface scratches, each measuring 2.5-3 cm., in the stomachs of Bacchus and the satyr on the right. There are some other scattered spot retouchings but the painting is otherwise in overall very good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The present painting by Jan Breughel the Younger, with staffage by Hendrick van Balen, is one of four known versions of this bacchanalian scene. The present work is a modified version of a painting recorded by Ertz as being with the Mullenmeister Gallery, Solingen.¹ Ertz considered the figures in the Mullenmeister panel also to have been painted by Van Balen. It features the same figure group at the right but has a distant lake-side landscape view to the left. Of the two other versions in the same format as the present painting, one with figures by Rottenhammer is recorded as having been sold in Brussels in 1906,² and the other, attributed wholly to Van Balen, is in the collection of the Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki.³ A sketch by Van Balen for the figure group is in the collection at Yale University Art Gallery.⁴

In 1984 Ertz published the present painting as by Brueghel, and tentatively suggested that Van Balen was responsible for the execution of the figures. He reiterated his view some years later when he had the opportunity to inspect the copper at first-hand, conceding that Van Balen may have employed the help of a studio assistant in some passages. Indeed at the time of the 2005 Christie’s sale, he provided a certificate dated 14 October 2005 with his attribution of this painting to Jan Breughel the Younger and Hendrick van Balen the Younger.

1. Ertz 1984, p. 377, cat. no. 211, reproduced pl. 45.
2. Anonymous sale, Brussels, Ste-Gudule, 5 May 1906, lot 92.
3. M. Supinen, Sinebrychoff Art Museum, Foreign School; Summary Catalogue I: Paintings, Helsinki 1988, p. 12, cat. no. A 361.
4. See E. H. Begemann et al., Catalogue of European Drawings at Yale 1500–1900, New Haven 1970, cat. no. 517, reproduced pl. 279.