Lot 304
Circle or workshop of Pieter Coecke van Aelst the Elder (Flemish, 1502-1550)
A triptych: The Adoration of the Magi; with Saint Joseph (right panel) and Balthazar (left panel).
Oil on three oak panels, mounted on oak panels, inscribed "NAC" on the column fragment on the right of the right panel edge and on the seal of Balthazar's hat inscribed "SAPI V. Mias. Dioc. Nictu" (I will give you wisdom). 38 1/5 x 51 1/5in. (97 x 130cm.) (total), 34 5/8in. (88 x 55.5cm.) (centre panel), 34 5/8 x 9 1/4in. (88 x 23.5cm.) (outer panels).
*Provenance:
Dobiaschofsky Auktionen AG, Bern, May 2017, lot 328.
Galerie Jürg Stuker, Bern, auction 118, November 1973, lot 762 (there as a work by the Master of the Death of Mary).
Private collection, Switzerland.
This beautiful triptych was likely to have been produced during the first half of the sixteenth century either in the workshop of Pieter Coecke van Aelst or by an artist in his circle. No signed and very few documented paintings by the artist have survived. While this triptych bears a close resemblance to other triptychs ascribed to Pieter Coecke van Aelst it is a unique work of art with its own idiosyncrasies and not a copy or replica. It is primarily distinguished by the intriguing inscription "NAC" on the column fragment and the Latin inscription on the seal of Balthazar's hat, features which do not appear in other versions. The Latin inscription "SAPI V. Dioc. Nictu" (I will give you my wisdom) is a biblical reference taken from Luke 21:15.
The Adoration of the Magi and the Holy Family are the subjects of many works ascribed to Pieter Coecke van Aelst or his workshop and there are still further replicas and copies. The art historian and researcher, Linda Jansen, who specialises in early Netherlandish painting and technical art history, has identified three groups; those produced under the master's direct supervision, those created independently by assistants and those produced outside of the workshop. She acknowledges, however, that it is difficult to distinguish between these three groups. The subject is discussed in her article "Serial products in the workshop of Pieter Coecke van Aelst: A working hypothesis" (La peinture ancienne et ses proceeds, Leuven/Paris/Dudley 2006, p. 173-180). She regards the present triptych as an intriguing work, not least due to the inscriptions, yet not by the artist's own hand. This view is shared by Dr Suzane Laemers, Curator of Fifteenth and Sixteenth Century Netherlandish Painting at the RKD (Netherlands Institute for Art History in the Hague) who considers the present work's authorship as likely to be within the circle of the artist.
In this present work the artist has opposed traditional practice by incorporating the figures in the wings into the central composition. Normally, at this date, the two wings of a triptych were not integrated into the main subject in the centre. This new approach created a sense of symmetry and breadth and was adopted by artists of the next generation.
As shown here, Coecke van Aelst's compositions repeatedly demonstrate a strong Italian influence thought to derive from time spent in Rome as a young man, although there is no firm evidence that he travelled to Italy. This emerges in his work from the late 1520's when the influence of the work of Raphael and his pupil Guilio Romano becomes apparent. He certainly made numerous drawings of classical architecture and sculpture and later his interest in classical architecture was manifest in his translations of the architectural treatises by Sebastiano Serlio and Vitruvius into Flemish.
Coecke van Aelst travelled to Constantinople in 1533 where he spent a year trying to persuade the Turkish sultan to give him commissions for tapestries. No commissions were forthcoming however he produced many drawings whilst he was there and acquired an abiding interest in that country which is often manifest in his work. While in Turkey he produced the preliminary designs for his woodcuts on the theme "Costumes and customs of the Turks" which were published posthumously in 1553. The exotically dressed and turbaned figure of Melchior in the present triptych owes much to this influence. At this time the wise men were traditionally depicted as of different ages and by the Renaissance the youngest was depicted as an African, as Balthazar is here, probably to reflect the universal acknowledgement of Christ's divinity.
Born in 1502, Pieter Coecke van Aelst was the son of the deputy mayor of Aelst, a city north-west of Brussels. He was a highly versatile and talented painter, sculptor, architect, designer and translator into multiple languages. He lived and worked mainly in Antwerp where he joined the Guild of Saint Luke in 1527 and received many major commissions, including for the design of stained-glass windows for Antwerp Cathedral. He also received a stipend from the Antwerp city government. He operated a large workshop where his numerous assistants followed his original designs and produced works under his supervision. Through both his marriages and his children he was connected to several prominent artists and printmakers including Martens van Dornicke, Hubertus Goltzius and the Breughel family. He was appointed court painter to Charles V a few months prior to his death in 1550.
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