CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF THE VON GROOTE ADORATION | A triptych: The Adoration of the Magi; The Nativity (left wing); The Flight into Egypt (right wing)

Anonymous sale, London, Christie’s, 17 April 2002, lot 12 (as Circle of the Master of the Von Groote Adoration).

The central panel has vertical blocks adhered to the reverse, and both wings have a vertical baton adhered to each. The paint surfaces are quite worn, and there are visible retouchings scattered throughout. Inspection under ultraviolet light reveals this fairly extensive campaign of restoration, including retouched vertical cracks in the panels: 3 in the central panel, 2 of which run the height of it, 2 in the right wing which both run the height of it, and 1 in the left wing. In overall fair 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 eponymous work of the hand Friedländer identified as The Master of the von Groote Adoration is a triptych of which the present whereabouts is unknown, but which is listed by Friedländer as having been formerly of the Von Groote collection, Kitzburg, and exhibited in Düsseldorf in 1909.¹ The composition seems to have been one of the most popular among the Antwerp Mannerists, for there are many versions and derivations of this pattern. Dan Ewing regards these variants as all being based on a lost late work by Jan de Beer (doc. 1491, d. 1527/28) that was probably painted around 1518.² Ewing categorises the versions under three ‘types’; the present triptych falling under the ‘Munich type’ after the triptych in the Alte Pinakothek, examples of which repeat variations of a single panel Adoration in the John G. Johnson Collection, Philadelphia,³ and whose wings depict a night Nativity which Ewing considers freely based on de Beer’s Nativity in the Barber Institute, Birmingham,⁴ and also a Flight into Egypt, based on Dürer’s Life of the Virgin woodcut. 1 M.J. Friedländer, Early Netherlandish Painting, vol. XI, Leiden, 1974, p. 70, cat. no. 27, reproduced plates 36–7; and for other paintings given to the same hand see plates 38–48.
2 D. Ewing, The Paintings and Drawings of Jan de Beer, doctoral diss., Michigan 1978, vol. I, pp. 172–77.
3 See Friedländer 1974, p. 70, cat. no. 29, reproduced pl. 39, fig. 29.
4 Inv. no. 51.5; see Ewing 1978, pp. 249–56, cat. no. 11, reproduced fig. 43.