Featured Inherited Painting - Any clues?

Dear all,

This is my first post on this forum.

I would be very grateful for your comments on this painting, i.e. provenance, period, artist, value?

The dimensions are: H61.5cm/24 inch ; W47cm/18.5inch, the wood is curved.

The wax sealing states: Collection J.J. Chapuis; I did not find any artist's signature, though there are three strange markings in the middle of the back (black, burnt?).

There is some damage to the left side of the painting. I'll have it repaired if the painting is worth it.

I inherited this piece from my great grandfather, who lived in Brussels.

I look forward to your comments!

Many thanks and kind regards,
Sam

 

With photos attached

 

Not much to add really, a nice old master, warped as they often are, oak panel ...if you want an attribution send a pic to Sotheby's Amsterdam.

It would have been cradled originally but as the warp progressed the board released from the cradle leaving the previously covered up sections unoxidized on the back, i.e. the "stripes"

The provenance/collector seal is very impressive, he was very well known and had some very important works, maybe this is a Poussin or something (although the figures look a bit too skinny to be one of his!) - it certainly looks like an extremely good painting.
You have to submit a pic to Sothebys, but please come back and let us know what you find out!

 

What a beauty! and what blooey said.

Here's an example of another work from the J.J. Chapuis collection...
https://www.invaluable.com/auction-...menraet-17th-c-landscape-o-c-788-c-0a9414eac7

James.

 

The "brands" are a good sign. They are guild marks that had to be applied under penalty of fines. Yours are for the city of Antwerp.

https://www.christies.com/features/8-things-you-can-learn-from-the-back-of-a-painting-10293-1.aspx

 

Well now that @rink28 has found the subject, here's more than you ever wanted to know about the work and the many copies. I wonder where the original is?

https://www.google.com/search?clien...GSAQMxLjGYAQCqAQdnd3Mtd2l6wAEB&sclient=psy-ab

 

This is the posted painting next to an engraving by Aegidius Sadeler from the National Galleries Scotland. I have altered the proportions of the engraving to better align with the tilted painting.

 

There's tons of 'em out there

 

Blooey, Roaring20s, Rink28, moreotherstuff, thank you all for the input and research.

It is unbelievable to see that you were able to pinpoint the name of the painting, the markings etc! Well done and many thanks for your interest. I learnt a lot here already.

Question remains, who painted this?

Aegidius Sadeler or Guiseppe Cesari or one of their apprentices? Maybe Belgian painters from Liege? I searched around a bit and found that there were two known Belgian painters from Liege who spent time in Italy around the time of this painting (beginning 17th..) who were known to paint in ‘brighter’ colors as appears to be the case in my painting: Bertholet Flemalle and Gerard Duffet. J.J. Chapuis had an interest in them too as he owned works by them.

Can we already conclude this is not an original? Stupid question, does this affect the value?

It seems that all versions out there sold, are attributed to Guiseppe Cesari but without 100% certainty. Here is an example, I saw somewhere that it sold for between 15 and 20k USD: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/flagellation-of-christ-158-c-ea642e79f7 Would you experts say mine is of higher or lower quality? This one is bigger than mine, does that affect the value?

I will reach out to Sothebys Amsterdam and ask for an appraisal and I will keep you informed of all updates.

I look forward to your replies!
Sam

 

The floor in the auction link you provided matches the engraving by Sadeler. Also, the facial expressions better match that link. He's an engraver, so I do not think he's in the running as the painter.

According to the following he did not have many students.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Cesari#:~:text=His only direct followers were,Vincenzo Manenti, and Bernardino Parasole.
It does not mean that one of them painted it either, but it's very exciting to see older works, even it's by an unknown artist.

Best of luck!

 

No one will nail down a definitive attribution on old masters, the community is afraid their reputation will be damaged if later another "expert" refutes their findings, or worse still sues them or they lose their job. All of these possibilities have already occurred and the situation has been like this for several years now.
Even the big houses like Sotheby's and Christies have a prominent disclaimer in their catalogues saying they cannot guarantee authorship on articles more than "X" number of years old.

I should think the painting is good enough to get one of the grades of attribution to Cesari, these attribution grades vary and are not numbered, but "coded" in the vocabulary so that buyers of said works can assess the degree of confidence of the attribution by the seller.

Fire off a pic, I'm sure you'll get a positive response.