Antwerp School, 16th century

Anonymous sale, Berlin, Lepke, 4 June 1912, lot 75 (as attributed to the Master of the Female Half Lengths);

Langhuis v. d. Meer collection, Amsterdam;

Campbell collection, London;

Baron Jean-Germain Cassel van Doorn (1882–1953), Brussels;

His posthumous sale, Brussels, Galerie Giroux, 20 Nov 1953, lot 52 (as Jan Van Hemessen);

Anonymous sale, Amsterdam, Mak van Waay, 16 March 1954, lot 36, for 3600 guilders (as Jan Van Hemessen);

Madame K.L., Paris;

Her sale, Paris, Galerie Charpentier, 30 November 1954, lot 24, for 250,000 French francs (as attributed to the Master of the Female Half Lengths);

Private collection, Switzerland;

By whom sold ('Un Chalet Raffiné'), Geneva, Piguet, 6 December 2021, lot 3115 (as Antwerp School, 16th century);

Where acquired by the present owner.

This lively painting depicts three elegantly dressed figures and a jester engaged in a musical performance gathered around a table in an interior.

This composition, which dates from the first half of the 16^th century, was undoubtedly executed in Antwerp and borrows several motifs from various workshops, notably that of the Master of the Female Half Lengths, an anonymous artist known for his depictions of beautiful young women singing, playing musical instruments, reading, or writing in domestic settings. Although probably not from his hand, this work replicates the design of a work originally in the collection of Prof. Dr Marc Rosenberg (1852–1930), sold London, Sotheby’s, 3 July 2013, lot 3, for £86,500.¹ The only difference between the two paintings is the singing figure, which in the present work is male.

Moreover, this composition is replicated in slightly larger and more complex works by an anonymous Flemish artist depicting The Prodigal Son with the Courtesans (often interpreted as an allegory of the five senses), respectively in the Musée Carnavalet, Paris,² and Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest.³ Like the present work, both paintings have historically been attributed to various Netherlandish artists such as Jan Van Hemessen, The Master of the Female Half Lengths, Jan Cornelisz. Vermeyen and Quinten Massys.

¹ Oil on oak panel, the reverse prepared with gesso; 63.7 x 89.5 cm.; https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2013/old-master-british-paintings-evening-l13033/lot.3.html?locale=en

² Inv. no. CARP0619, P 619; oil on oak panel; 89 x 130 cm.; https://www.pop.culture.gouv.fr/notice/joconde/11040000373?base=%5B%22Collections%20des%20mus%C3%A9es%20de%20France%20%28Joconde%29%22%5D&listResPage=3&mainSearch=%22musee%20carnavalet%22&ou=%5B%22mus%C3%A9e%20Carnavalet%20%E2%80%93%20histoire%20de%20Paris%22%5D&resPage=3&type=%5B%22tableau%22%5D&last_view=%22list%22&idQuery=%22c5d4e1e-47cf-3ea-0107-46edf6ff210%22

³ Inv. no. 4044; oil on oak panel; 84 x 127.3 cm.; https://www.mfab.hu/artworks/8868/