Denys Fiammingo Calvaert

LOT 31 DENYS CALVAERT ANTWERP CIRCA 1540 - 1619 BOLOGNA THE WEDDING AT CANA oil on copper 8,000—12,000 GBP 35.3 by 29.8 cm.; 14 by 11 3/4 in. Description oil on copper There is a preparatory drawing for this composition in a privatecollection (fig. 1) and a further related drawing, with severaldifferences and omissions, in the British Museum. There is a preparatory drawing for this composition in a privatecollection (fig. 1) and a further related drawing, with severaldifferences and omissions, in the British Museum.

DENYS CALVAERT (1540-1619) - THE HOLY FAMILY WITH THE INFANT SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST AND SAINT ANNE, TOGETHER WITH SAINTS ANTHONY ABBOT, SEBASTIAN AND ROCH -
Mis: 23 1/2 by 17 1/2 in.; 59.7 by 44.5 cm.
oil on copper, in an elaborate tabernacle-style frame

CATALOGUE NOTE
This copper panel is closely related to an altarpiece of 1606, painted by Calvaert for the Bertalotti altar in the church of San Giuseppe de? Vecchi Settuagenari, Bologna, and today in the convent church of San Luca in the same city.1 Calvaert clearly went to great pains in designing the altarpiece?s complex composition, which is populated by no less than ten figures, and he produced a detailed preparatory drawing (probably serving as a modello or presentation piece for the Bertalotti family to approve).2 The altarpiece follows the drawing?s design almost exactly, but the present painting on copper shows considerable differences: although the composition is still built around an overall pyramidal design, Calvaert has omitted the middle-tier figures of Saint John the Evangelist on the left and Saint Lawrence on the right. The result is a less cramped composition, in which the figures are given more space, and the artist has filled the gaps left by the two missing saints with Saint Joseph?s feet on one side and a broken column behind Saint Roch on the other. The Infant Saint John the Baptist proffers a rose here rather than a bird: the former is a symbol often linked to the Virgin Mary and more generally represents martyrdom; the latter is a symbol often associated with Christ for legend has it that the goldfinch acquired its red spot when it flew over Christ on the way to Calvary and, drawing a thorn from His brow, was spattered with a drop of the Saviour?s blood. This variant on copper was almost certainly painted by Calvaert for a private patron, in response to a specific commission. Calvaert sometimes produced replicas or variants of his compositions, particularly late in life.3 The date of the San Luca altarpiece provides a terminus post quem for the execution of this copper and it is therefore reasonable to assume that it was probably painted during the last ten years of the artist?s life. The copper support, much favoured by Calvaert, is wonderfully suited to the artist?s mannerist coloring and delicate rendering of detail.4We are grateful to Simone Twiehaus for confirming this painting to be a work by Calvaert, on the basis on photographs. 1 Oil on canvas, 266 by 172 cm.; see S. Twiehaus, Dionisio Calvaert (um 1540-1619). Die Altarwerke, Berlin 2002, pp. 199-200, cat. no. A9, reproduced fig. 26. 2 Paris, Cabinet des Dessins du Louvre, inv. no. 19.843; reproduced in Twiehaus, op. cit., fig. 27. 3 His painting of Danae in the Pinacoteca in Lucca, which is signed and dated 1614, is a variant of an earlier painting of the same subject, datable to circa 1601, in the Ferens Art Gallery, Kingston-upon-Hull; both reproduced by T. Montella, in V. Fortunati Pietrantonio, Pittura bolognese del ?500, Bologna 1986, vol. II, pp. 708 and 701 respectively. 4 The same is true of the copper representing The Holy Family with Saints Elizabeth and John the Baptist, signed and dated 1584, sold in Milan, Sotheby?s, May 30, 2006, lot 5, for ?160,000.

DENYS CALVAERT (1540-1619) - CHRIST IN PURGATORY -
Mis:
oil on canvas, in an Italian carved and gilt wood frame

PROVENANCE
Mr Steinort, London (according to a label on the reverse).

EXHIBITED
Karlsruhe, Staatliche Kunsthalle (according to a label on the reverse).

CATALOGUE NOTE
Calvaert, who was known as ‘Dionisio FiammingoÂ’ (an appellation with which he often signed), was born in Antwerp in around 1540 but arrived in Italy as a young man; if Bolognini Amorini is to be believed, when he was about 20 years old. He first entered the workshop of Prospero Fontana in Bologna, and then that of Lorenzo Sabatini, whom he accompanied to Rome in 1572. Calvaert returned to Bologna three years later and opened an academy for young artists attended by, amongst others, Guido Reni. CalvaertÂ’s style remained thoroughly mannerist throughout his artistic career and, like Barocci and Correggio whom he greatly admired, he was also a prolific draughtsman. This paintingÂ’s mannerist style brings it in line with CalvaertÂ’s works executed in the last quarter of the 16th century, after his return to Bologna. The pose of Christ, with His raised over-sized hand and head tilted to one side, echoes that of CalvaertÂ’s Saint Cecilia, of which two different autograph versions exist, both of which are dated to the early 1580s.1 The naturalistic rendering of the donor lower left may be compared to figures in CalvaertÂ’s famous altarpiece showing The miracle of the brandeum painted for the church of San Gregorio, Bologna, in 1581.2 During the decade that ensues CalvaertÂ’s paintings show a renewed interest in Barocci and Correggio, particularly in his small-scale devotional works, and it is reasonable to assume that this painting dates from around this time.3 The composition of this painting appears to be unrecorded in Calvaert's oeuvre, both in its painted and graphic form..  1 One is in the Galleria Pallavicini, Rome, and the other in the Pinacoteca in Parma. The former is reproduced by T. Montella, in V. Fortunati Pietrantonio, Pittura bolognese del Â’500, Bologna 1986, vol. II, p. 692.. 2 Calvaert signed the contract for the altarpiece in that year. See Montella, op. cit., p. 684, reproduced in colour p. 693.. 3 See, for example, the Holy Family with Saints Elizabeth and John the Baptist, signed and dated 1584, sold in Milan, SothebyÂ’s, 30 May 2006, lot 5, for €160,000.

Denys Calvaert, called Dionisio Fiammingo (Antwerp c. 1540-1619Bologna) Christ walking on the Water with old attribution 'Federico Zuccari, Intagliato da Sadler' (onthe reverse) oil on copper 12¾ x 10 in. (32.4 x 25.4 cm.) Special Notice Pre-Lot Text THE PROPERTY OF A FAMILY (lot 81) Provenance F.C. Harper, London; Christie's, London, 30 June 1924, lot 144,one of two, as 'Sadlier: Christ Walking on the Water - on copper;and The Madonna and Child - on panel' (unsold). Arthur Stuart, 7th Earl Castle Stewart (1889-1944), who in 1920married Eleanor May Guggenheim (d. 1992), daughter of Solomon R.Guggenheim, and by descent. Lot Notes We are grateful to Dr. Erich Schleier and Professor AlessandroBrogi for the attribution, given independently after inspection ofthe original and on the basis of photographs respectively;Professor Brogi dates the picture to 1590-1600. We are alsograteful to Dr. Simone Twiehaus for confirming the attribution onthe basis of photographs and for her assistance with cataloguingthis lot. The general composition is known, with variations, in two otherworks by Calvaert: that in the Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe,formerly attributed to Federico Zuccari (inv. no. 1775; J. Lauts,Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, Katalog Alte Meister bis 1800, I,p. 238, II, fig. 71), and that sold, Sotheby's, London, 21 April1993, lot 313, as Attributed to Denys Calvaert. In addition, thereis a drawing in the Louvre, Paris (inv. no. 10108; E. Starcky,Inventaire general des dessins des écoles du nord, Paris, 1988, p.71, no. 73). The inscription on the reverse presumably follows thetraditional attribution of the Karlsruhe picture, although there isno known engraving of the composition by Sadeler; there are,however, slight compositional similarities with his engraving ofthe treatment of the subject by Barocci, whose work stronglyinfluenced Calvaert.