Attributed to Werner Jacobsz. van den Valckert

The panel is cradled, flat and stable. The paint surface is clean and the varnish is clear and even. Inspection under ultraviolet light reveals an extensive campaign of sensitively-executed retouching: along a vertical split running the length of the panel, just left of Charon's face; throughout the background, particularly upper left and upper right; and in Charon's shoulders, around his nose, and just below his mouth. His hair and beard have also been strengthened. In overall fair condition.
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In his 1978 and 1983 articles on Werner van de Valckert, Pieter van Thiel discusses and illustrates an undated woodcut of Charon that he writes was made after compositions by Van den Valckert, but not cut by Valckert himself.¹ Van Thiel writes that in 1619 Valckert took part in an important commission to contribute two paintings to the oratory of King Christian IV of Denmark for his castle at Frederiksborg. There are records of a purchase of five further paintings from Valckert, giving some indication of the high esteem in which his work was held within the Danish court. Van Thiel notes another Valckert composition – also known only via a woodcut – signed and dated 1620 of The Mocking of Christ, which is likely to have been reproduced as a record when the original was dispatched to Christian IV for his Rosenborg Castle in Copenhagen. Van Thiel speculates that the same could have been the case for Valckert's original painting of Charon, likely also to have been destined for the collection of the Danish King.¹ The woodcut would have served as a record of the present work once it had left the studio.

Due to the high quality of the execution of this painting, and the similarities in handling to other works by Valckert executed around the same time for the Danish market, such as his Galathea and Neptune, in the Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen,² it would appear not unlikely that this quirky depiction of Charon, the ferryman of Hades, is from the hand of Valckert himself.  

1. P. J. J. Van Thiel, 'Werner Jacobsz. van den Valckert', in Oud Holland, vol. 97, no. 3, 1983, p. 193, and P. J. J. Van Thiel, 'Houtsneden van Werner van den Valckert en Mozes van Uyttenbroeck: De Hollandse houtsnede in het eerste kwart van de zeventiende eeuwp', Oud Holland, vol. 92, no. 1, 1978, p. 42.
2. Inv. nos KMS8315 and KMS8316.