Maarten van Heemskerck

With Hans Wendland, Paris;

Acquired from the above by the father of the present owner in 1937;

Thence by inheritance.

I.M. Veldman, Maerten van Heemskerck and Dutch Humanism in the sixteenth century, Maarssen 1977, p. 26f.;

R. Grosshans, Maerten van Heemskerck, Berlin 1980, pp. 89–90, cat. no. 1, reproduced fig. 1.

Though in the most recent literature this panting is said to have been transferred from panel there is little evidence of this other than in a few areas of the background where the paint surface could be said to have aged more like a panel than canvas. If it was transferred it must have been done a very long time go- there is for example an old stretcher mark along the upper horizontal. Whatever the case though the paint surface is well preserved. The painting is lined. There are some very obvious areas of repainting along the extreme left, right and upper margins. That on the upper margin is due to an extension of approx 4cm width. Those on the two vertical margins are less explicable. The figures Himself is well preserved. There is an area above his left pectoral that has been subject to some restoration and to a lesser extent above the corresponding area to his right. Another area similarly affected is to the left of his navel. There are further more minor areas of retouching. The face and crown of thorns are beautifully preserved. Sold Unframed.
"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."

This is one of the earliest paintings by the titan of high Renaissance and early-Mannerist art, Maerten van Heemskerck. The son of a farmer, Maerten would become one of the most influential artists in northern Europe, spending a long period in Italy, from 1532–36, where he worked with, among others, Francesco Salviati in Rome. The expressive nature of the subject of Christ as the Man of Sorrows lent itself well to Heemskerck's own brand of Mannerism and he treated it on several further occasions throughout the course of his career. This, his earliest depiction of Christ, was to influence several other works from Heemskerck's circle.²

According to Grosshans, the ninety-year old dealer Hans Wendland, from whom the previous owner had bought the painting in 1937, confessed to having split it from a panel with the Virgin and Child on the other side, which he then sold as Jan van Scorel.³ There does however appear to be little proof of this occurrence both because there is little, if any, evidence of this painting having ever been on a wooden support and because it is of different dimensions to the companion work. The inscriptions and dates, too, are different; the present work being dated 1525 and the companion 1532. Even accounting for Grosshans hypothesis that some digits may be missing from the end of the date (done in Roman numerals) and that it may originally have been dated to the late 1520s, there is still a disparity. It may well therefore be that the story is apocryphal.

Nonetheless the present painting is one of the earliest known works by Heemskerck and is likely to have been created during the years between 1525 and 1530, a period of collaboration with Jan van Scorel in Haarlem. The unusual form of signature ‘Heemskeric’ reappears in three other works by the artist: on a drawing of the Forum Romanum (1535), on Vulcan's forge in Prague (dated 1536), and on the engraving by Cornelis Bos  of 1537 which shows Prudence and Justice.⁴ Stylistically it most resembles the Man of Sorrows in Ghent from 1532.⁵ The sculpting of the athletic body with the meticulous rendering of the neck-, breast- and hip-muscles is very similar in both depictions.

1. 'In order that our blood may not have flowed in vain, with which I am able to heal wounds and make the fallen human race happy, may the head which was pierced by so many thorns, the poor hands, the side, and the pierced feet all move a hardened heart'.

2. See for example the work at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; Grosshans 1980, reproduced fig. 146

3. Grosshans 1980, cat. no. 2, reproduced fig. 2.

4. For the Prague painting see Grosshans 1980, cat. no. 21, reproduced fig. 22.

5. Grosshans 1980, cat. no. 16, reproduced fig. 16.