Decade 1630-1639
1632 Portrait of an Old Woman by Rembrandt
2000 SOLD for £ 20M including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2020
In 1631 Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn begins to be known. The majority of his customers are no longer in Leiden but in Amsterdam. The art dealer Hendrick van Uylenburgh accommodates him and provides him with a studio in the richest city in the world.
Thus freed from material constraints, Rembrandt can therefore devote himself to his art. 1632 is both a prolific and an experimental year. He begins to sell self-portraits, probably to better introduce himself to the wealthy clients of van Uylenburgh.
The main talent of Rembrandt is in the expressive realism of the portraits. The light is centered on the face and fades at the periphery of the image. The young artist experiments with the oval format which elegantly reduces the dark corners. It seems that the oval panels preceded the false frames painted on rectangular panels.
On December 13, 2000, Christie's sold the portrait of an old woman for £ 20M including premium from a lower estimate of £ 4M, lot 52. The image is shared by Wikimedia. The bevelling of this 74 x 56 cm panel attests that the picture was oval from the start.
The portrait is signed van Ryn with the monogram RHL which marks the initials of his first name and his previous installation in Leiden. The artist has not yet found the best way to identify himself : in the same year, he sometimes signs with the simplified version Rembrant of his first name.
The painting is dated 1632. The woman is not identified, which attests that the portrait was painted for the use of her family. Her age is indicated : 62 years old.
In this half-length portrait, Rembrandt uses the padding of the shoulders to show that the woman is frail and petite. The eyes and the smile are a little tired. The cap is an essential accessory for a bourgeois woman of that time.
After investigation about the entourage of the artist, this person can only be Aeltje Sylvius née van Uylenburgh, a cousin of the dealer Hendrick. She and her husband also appear in other paintings. Rembrandt married her niece Saskia van Uylenburgh in 1634.
Thus freed from material constraints, Rembrandt can therefore devote himself to his art. 1632 is both a prolific and an experimental year. He begins to sell self-portraits, probably to better introduce himself to the wealthy clients of van Uylenburgh.
The main talent of Rembrandt is in the expressive realism of the portraits. The light is centered on the face and fades at the periphery of the image. The young artist experiments with the oval format which elegantly reduces the dark corners. It seems that the oval panels preceded the false frames painted on rectangular panels.
On December 13, 2000, Christie's sold the portrait of an old woman for £ 20M including premium from a lower estimate of £ 4M, lot 52. The image is shared by Wikimedia. The bevelling of this 74 x 56 cm panel attests that the picture was oval from the start.
The portrait is signed van Ryn with the monogram RHL which marks the initials of his first name and his previous installation in Leiden. The artist has not yet found the best way to identify himself : in the same year, he sometimes signs with the simplified version Rembrant of his first name.
The painting is dated 1632. The woman is not identified, which attests that the portrait was painted for the use of her family. Her age is indicated : 62 years old.
In this half-length portrait, Rembrandt uses the padding of the shoulders to show that the woman is frail and petite. The eyes and the smile are a little tired. The cap is an essential accessory for a bourgeois woman of that time.
After investigation about the entourage of the artist, this person can only be Aeltje Sylvius née van Uylenburgh, a cousin of the dealer Hendrick. She and her husband also appear in other paintings. Rembrandt married her niece Saskia van Uylenburgh in 1634.
1632 A Business of Self Portraits
2020 SOLD for £ 14.5M including premium
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn had a gift for facial analysis and wanted to specialize in portrait painting. The realistic portrait of a soldier with the shadow from the hat on the right side of the face, painted in Leiden circa 1626, was probably a demonstrative model. It was sold for £ 8.4M including premium by Christie's on July 3, 2012.
Rembrandt was early interested in self-portrait, perhaps under the influence of his crossed portraits with his workshop colleague Jan Lievens. He used this theme from 1631 in several etchings.
Glory rewards talent. Rembrandt moved to Amsterdam at the end of 1631 while also working on commission in The Hague. In 1632 he painted numerous portraits as well as his first masterpiece of group scenes, the Anatomy Lesson of Dr Tulp.
Rembrandt then took an unprecedented initiative : rather than offering tronies, he painted self-portraits for sale. The painting is executed quickly with a wet in wet signature. If the piece is not sold, the support is reused. Self-portraits of the artist are certainly still hidden under a repaint made by his workshop.
On July 28 in London, Sotheby's sells one of these self-portraits, lot 12 estimated £ 12M. This oil on panel 22 x 16 cm is dated 1632, which is consistent with the very ephemeral variant 'Rembrant' of his signature. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The demonstration of authenticity is based on autograph pentiments, and by the use of a board from the same oak as a portrait painted in the same year by Rembrandt. It is one of only two self-portraits on which Rembrandt is dressed as a respectable burger, with a very large ruff and a felt hat. The small format suggests that it is a portable piece which can be used as a sort of business card.
Rembrandt was early interested in self-portrait, perhaps under the influence of his crossed portraits with his workshop colleague Jan Lievens. He used this theme from 1631 in several etchings.
Glory rewards talent. Rembrandt moved to Amsterdam at the end of 1631 while also working on commission in The Hague. In 1632 he painted numerous portraits as well as his first masterpiece of group scenes, the Anatomy Lesson of Dr Tulp.
Rembrandt then took an unprecedented initiative : rather than offering tronies, he painted self-portraits for sale. The painting is executed quickly with a wet in wet signature. If the piece is not sold, the support is reused. Self-portraits of the artist are certainly still hidden under a repaint made by his workshop.
On July 28 in London, Sotheby's sells one of these self-portraits, lot 12 estimated £ 12M. This oil on panel 22 x 16 cm is dated 1632, which is consistent with the very ephemeral variant 'Rembrant' of his signature. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The demonstration of authenticity is based on autograph pentiments, and by the use of a board from the same oak as a portrait painted in the same year by Rembrandt. It is one of only two self-portraits on which Rembrandt is dressed as a respectable burger, with a very large ruff and a felt hat. The small format suggests that it is a portable piece which can be used as a sort of business card.
1632 Bust of a Girl by Rembrandt
1986 SOLD for £ 7.3M including premium, worth US$ 10.3M at that time, by Sotheby's
narrated in 2021
Rembrandt is the best portrait painter of his time. He knows it and wants it to be known. In his workshop in Leiden, he paints imaginary tronies of men of all ages. After arriving in Amsterdam in 1632 at the age of 26, he continues this practice while adding portraits of his family and of his future in-laws.
The superiority of his art consists in the physiognomy, the expressiveness, the subtle effect of light on the skin. In Amsterdam, he ads costume tronies to his repertoire, to demonstrate his skill in showing exquisite silks and embroidery as well as jewelry.
An oval tronie of a blonde girl dated 1632 was sold by Sotheby's on December 10, 1986 for £ 7.3M including premium, worth at that time US $ 10.3M. The image is shared by Wikimedia. It was painted in oil on a 59 x 44 cm mahogany panel, which is consistent with Rembrandt's practice at that time of favoring wood over canvas for small formats.
The face is fresh and youthful, with chubby pink cheeks. She has long been identified as the artist's sister but this attribution has been refuted. The collar and opening of the coat is amply edged in gold over elegant embroidery and she wears earrings.
The superiority of his art consists in the physiognomy, the expressiveness, the subtle effect of light on the skin. In Amsterdam, he ads costume tronies to his repertoire, to demonstrate his skill in showing exquisite silks and embroidery as well as jewelry.
An oval tronie of a blonde girl dated 1632 was sold by Sotheby's on December 10, 1986 for £ 7.3M including premium, worth at that time US $ 10.3M. The image is shared by Wikimedia. It was painted in oil on a 59 x 44 cm mahogany panel, which is consistent with Rembrandt's practice at that time of favoring wood over canvas for small formats.
The face is fresh and youthful, with chubby pink cheeks. She has long been identified as the artist's sister but this attribution has been refuted. The collar and opening of the coat is amply edged in gold over elegant embroidery and she wears earrings.
1632 Young Woman in a Beret by Rembrandt
2007 SOLD for $ 9M including premium by Sotheby's
narrated in 2021
Recently installed in Amsterdam, Rembrandt develops a new format in 1632 : the bust portrait on an oval panel. He thus paints self-portraits, portraits of his relatives and tronies.
The old woman, although not identified, is one of his relatives : he took care to inscribe her age. This 74 x 56 cm panel was sold for £ 20M including premium by Christie's on December 15, 2000.
The young blonde woman, 59 x 44 cm panel sold for £ 7.3M including premium by Sotheby's on December 10, 1986, has long been considered the sister of artist, Lysbeth. The authentication of a portrait of a brunette with the same youthful face helped refute this hypothesis.
When they were able to inspect this latter portrait in 1972 at the home of its owner, the experts from the Rembrandt Research Project (RRP) described it as a work painted outside the artist's circle. Two elements did not match the master's practice. The oval support, 69 x 54 cm, was not a panel but a canvas stretched on wood. The exotic garment with gold embroidery and the black beret form a disparate ensemble that does not correspond to the fashion of that time.
The RRP wanted to compare this work in 1995 with two other versions. X-ray analysis showed that the primary layers of paint matched Rembrandt's 1632 practice and that the piece of canvas was already known from another authentic painting.
Freed from overpaints and from an old varnish, the oil on canvas has regained the superior qualities of a Rembrandt, with the accentuation of the volume by the angle of the light on the nose and the dimples. It was also identified that the oval shape had not been cut at the time of the execution of the work. The best guess is that an 18th century collector changed the format so that this painting would make a pendant with an oval self-portrait of Rembrandt that he also owned.
The portrait of the young woman in the beret was sold for $ 9M including premium by Sotheby's on January 25, 2007 from a lower estimate of $ 3M, lot 6. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The old woman, although not identified, is one of his relatives : he took care to inscribe her age. This 74 x 56 cm panel was sold for £ 20M including premium by Christie's on December 15, 2000.
The young blonde woman, 59 x 44 cm panel sold for £ 7.3M including premium by Sotheby's on December 10, 1986, has long been considered the sister of artist, Lysbeth. The authentication of a portrait of a brunette with the same youthful face helped refute this hypothesis.
When they were able to inspect this latter portrait in 1972 at the home of its owner, the experts from the Rembrandt Research Project (RRP) described it as a work painted outside the artist's circle. Two elements did not match the master's practice. The oval support, 69 x 54 cm, was not a panel but a canvas stretched on wood. The exotic garment with gold embroidery and the black beret form a disparate ensemble that does not correspond to the fashion of that time.
The RRP wanted to compare this work in 1995 with two other versions. X-ray analysis showed that the primary layers of paint matched Rembrandt's 1632 practice and that the piece of canvas was already known from another authentic painting.
Freed from overpaints and from an old varnish, the oil on canvas has regained the superior qualities of a Rembrandt, with the accentuation of the volume by the angle of the light on the nose and the dimples. It was also identified that the oval shape had not been cut at the time of the execution of the work. The best guess is that an 18th century collector changed the format so that this painting would make a pendant with an oval self-portrait of Rembrandt that he also owned.
The portrait of the young woman in the beret was sold for $ 9M including premium by Sotheby's on January 25, 2007 from a lower estimate of $ 3M, lot 6. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1632 Album of Calligraphy by Dong Qichang
2021 SOLD for HK$ 58M by China Guardian
An album of calligraphy by Dong Qichang was sold for HK $ 58M from a lower estimate of HK $ 30M by China Guardian on October 13, 2021, lot 616. It is illustrated and summarized in an article shared by iMedia., not referring to the auction but very close to the auction catalogue.
It is made in ink of Korean paper in regular running script on ten double leaves 26 x 32 cm. It is signed by Dong Qichang and includes two artist seals, two colophons, seven seals of the Qianlong emperor, one of the Jiaqing emperor and several collector seals.
It was made in Dong's later life. The year 1632 CE, when the 77 years old artist went to the capital in the north, is proposed in he catalogue. The title is translated as Lin Zhujia Post Book. The theme is the superior virtues of the ancestors of the Manchu dynasty, managing at that time to take control of China as the Qing dynasty.
It is made in ink of Korean paper in regular running script on ten double leaves 26 x 32 cm. It is signed by Dong Qichang and includes two artist seals, two colophons, seven seals of the Qianlong emperor, one of the Jiaqing emperor and several collector seals.
It was made in Dong's later life. The year 1632 CE, when the 77 years old artist went to the capital in the north, is proposed in he catalogue. The title is translated as Lin Zhujia Post Book. The theme is the superior virtues of the ancestors of the Manchu dynasty, managing at that time to take control of China as the Qing dynasty.
1633-1635 Francken between Vice and Virtue
2010 SOLD 7 M€ including premium
Frans Francken the younger was a painter of Antwerp and a contemporary of Rubens. This master is known for much animated scenes from mythology and the Old Testament, and some curious interpretations of collectors' showrooms.
On April 21 in Vienna, Dorotheum sells as lot 5 an outstanding oil on panel 142 x 211 cm by Francken on the moralizing theme of human choice between vices and virtues.
The composition is in two superimposed registers, according to the practice which had been so common in medieval iconography, long before this painting dated 1633 or 1635.
Upstairs, in an architectural environment, a pilgrim is surrounded by the virtues, on the left of the image, and vices and sins, on the right. Above him, a cloud is housing the Paradise. The lower register shows Hell with Satan and his pleasures.
POST SALE COMMENT
I think that nothing similar went on the market since a long time. The result, € 7 million including premium, confirms the importance of this painting. A great result for a great work, from all points of view.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
On April 21 in Vienna, Dorotheum sells as lot 5 an outstanding oil on panel 142 x 211 cm by Francken on the moralizing theme of human choice between vices and virtues.
The composition is in two superimposed registers, according to the practice which had been so common in medieval iconography, long before this painting dated 1633 or 1635.
Upstairs, in an architectural environment, a pilgrim is surrounded by the virtues, on the left of the image, and vices and sins, on the right. Above him, a cloud is housing the Paradise. The lower register shows Hell with Satan and his pleasures.
POST SALE COMMENT
I think that nothing similar went on the market since a long time. The result, € 7 million including premium, confirms the importance of this painting. A great result for a great work, from all points of view.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
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1634 Overpainted Self Portrait by Rembrandt
2003 SOLD for £ 7M including premium by Sotheby's
narrated in 2020
A photo taken in 1935 shows an oval portrait of a young man in a painted fake frame. The character is dressed in the Russian style of the 17th century, with a very tall red hat. This work is not major but it arouses the curiosity of the collector who manages to have a beret reappeared instead of the hat.
Around 1966 a new owner takes over the investigation. The Russian attributes seem incongruous to him. He takes off the earrings and shortens the mustache, beard and hair.
In 1995 the head of the Rembrandt Research Project is informed and recommends an additional investigation, which is started four years later by Sotheby's. The quality of execution of the lower part of the face is much superior to the rest of the picture, suggesting a work by the master.
The careful peeling away of the overpainted layers reveals the contrast of light under the beret, typical of Rembrandt, and the master's signature with the date 1634. Rembrandt is made recognizable again in this self-portrait taken at the age of 28.
The signature and date were painted wet on wet, attesting to a quick execution. Rembrandt made about 80 self-portraits during his career and was particularly prolific in that theme in the period following his installation in Amsterdam in 1632.
The paints which hid the self-portrait under the features of the Russian tronie are from the period. The Rembrandt committee found three other self-portraits which had been covered by a voluntary intervention of his studio, including one repainted by his own hand. This investigation provides a new element on the practice of Rembrandt : in that period, the self-portraits were intended for sale and the unsold ones were available for a new work.
This self-portrait was sold for £ 7M including premium by Sotheby's on July 10, 2003. The stages of its rehabilitation are described and illustrated in the press release prepared by Sotheby's before the sale. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Around 1966 a new owner takes over the investigation. The Russian attributes seem incongruous to him. He takes off the earrings and shortens the mustache, beard and hair.
In 1995 the head of the Rembrandt Research Project is informed and recommends an additional investigation, which is started four years later by Sotheby's. The quality of execution of the lower part of the face is much superior to the rest of the picture, suggesting a work by the master.
The careful peeling away of the overpainted layers reveals the contrast of light under the beret, typical of Rembrandt, and the master's signature with the date 1634. Rembrandt is made recognizable again in this self-portrait taken at the age of 28.
The signature and date were painted wet on wet, attesting to a quick execution. Rembrandt made about 80 self-portraits during his career and was particularly prolific in that theme in the period following his installation in Amsterdam in 1632.
The paints which hid the self-portrait under the features of the Russian tronie are from the period. The Rembrandt committee found three other self-portraits which had been covered by a voluntary intervention of his studio, including one repainted by his own hand. This investigation provides a new element on the practice of Rembrandt : in that period, the self-portraits were intended for sale and the unsold ones were available for a new work.
This self-portrait was sold for £ 7M including premium by Sotheby's on July 10, 2003. The stages of its rehabilitation are described and illustrated in the press release prepared by Sotheby's before the sale. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
mid 1630s An Arrogant Merchant of Haarlem
2008 SOLD 7.1 M£ including premium
Frans Hals is one of the biggest names in the history of art, and the painting that Sotheby's shows us, the number 26 from the sale of London on July 9, is surprising. Its estimate is very open: 3 to 5 million £. If several major buyers have the same opinion of his originality, it can do more despite its relatively small size: 47 x 37 cm.
This is the portrait of a merchant, whose name is identified, in the mid 1630s. He sits, a little toppled backward on a chair in unstable position. His attitude and his eyes express insolence, arrogance. To confirm this fact, he is shown with a whip in hands, which he bends. Not really nice, man ...
The painting is perfectly realistic, which is all the more remarkable because in his unbalanced position he could not have acted as a model.
Sotheby's is well aware of Frans Hals, since they have obtained all the best results on paintings of this artist, but I have not seen in the archives of sales another work that has a similar psychological strength. Sotheby's suppose that this painting was made for a strictly private use.
The catalogue does not hesitate to give us the last sale price obtained by this painting: 570 K € by ImKinsky in Vienna in 2004. It was then described as a work of a follower of Hals. Sotheby's gives many details about their remarkable study for authentication of the work, and its complete traceability since 1817.
The two major auction houses have decidedly nothing to fear from their rivals. The best connoisseurs of art are named Sotheby's and Christie's.
POST SALE COMMENT
Sotheby's was incredibly self-confident. I hope I have correctly described in my article such an impression given to me when reading the catalogue.
Experts from Sotheby's perfectly mastered it. Clearly assessing that a painting had been sold 570 K € in 2004 and bringing it up to £ 7.1 million charge included, is one of the best successes that I know in terms of auction.
The analysis that led to this result reveals an exceptional capacity for expertise.
It is likely, and even desirable, that Sotheby's has been paid by seller charges for this expertise.
Regarding the seller, I did the calculation. All expenses deducted (of which I can not know the exact rate), there is an increase in value by a factor of 5 to 6 between the purchase of Vienna and the sale of London.
There are still treasures which are moving in front of our eyes, but seeing them requires much increasing skills.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
This is the portrait of a merchant, whose name is identified, in the mid 1630s. He sits, a little toppled backward on a chair in unstable position. His attitude and his eyes express insolence, arrogance. To confirm this fact, he is shown with a whip in hands, which he bends. Not really nice, man ...
The painting is perfectly realistic, which is all the more remarkable because in his unbalanced position he could not have acted as a model.
Sotheby's is well aware of Frans Hals, since they have obtained all the best results on paintings of this artist, but I have not seen in the archives of sales another work that has a similar psychological strength. Sotheby's suppose that this painting was made for a strictly private use.
The catalogue does not hesitate to give us the last sale price obtained by this painting: 570 K € by ImKinsky in Vienna in 2004. It was then described as a work of a follower of Hals. Sotheby's gives many details about their remarkable study for authentication of the work, and its complete traceability since 1817.
The two major auction houses have decidedly nothing to fear from their rivals. The best connoisseurs of art are named Sotheby's and Christie's.
POST SALE COMMENT
Sotheby's was incredibly self-confident. I hope I have correctly described in my article such an impression given to me when reading the catalogue.
Experts from Sotheby's perfectly mastered it. Clearly assessing that a painting had been sold 570 K € in 2004 and bringing it up to £ 7.1 million charge included, is one of the best successes that I know in terms of auction.
The analysis that led to this result reveals an exceptional capacity for expertise.
It is likely, and even desirable, that Sotheby's has been paid by seller charges for this expertise.
Regarding the seller, I did the calculation. All expenses deducted (of which I can not know the exact rate), there is an increase in value by a factor of 5 to 6 between the purchase of Vienna and the sale of London.
There are still treasures which are moving in front of our eyes, but seeing them requires much increasing skills.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1637 Purist Portraits by Frans Hals
2018 SOLD for £ 10M including premium
Frans Hals began his career in Haarlem at a time of religious tensions. He is a friend of the purist doctrinaire Samuel Ampzing who promotes a simple and austere way of life for the Protestants.
Hals did not leave Haarlem and his art reflects the very specific ambience wanted by Ampzing. Portraitist of bourgeois and merchants, he does not confuse wealth and luxury. His sitters wear dark clothes only embellished with a white collar.
The faces have the same pictorial quality as the portraits made by Rembrandt but the monotony of his theme bored the following generations. The importance of his work was restored in the mid-nineteenth century by Thoré-Bürger who was also the discoverer of Vermeer.
In the early 1630s, Hals reduces his palette to gray, brown and black with an infinite variety of shades in these three colors. He is by that way reaching the high end of purism without losing the pictorial quality. His palette of blacks will be admired by van Gogh.
On December 6 in London, Christie's sells a pair of oils on canvas forming pendants, 93 x 68 cm each, lot 10 estimated £ 8M, in an exceptional state of preservation.
This pair is the three-quarter length portrait of a couple, dated 1637, possibly commissioned for their wedding anniversary. The man and the woman each hold a pair of deerskin gloves that symbolize their union. They are not identified but their age is recorded : 37 years old for the man and 36 for the woman.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's showing four masterpieces from the Eric Albada Jelgersma collection.
Hals did not leave Haarlem and his art reflects the very specific ambience wanted by Ampzing. Portraitist of bourgeois and merchants, he does not confuse wealth and luxury. His sitters wear dark clothes only embellished with a white collar.
The faces have the same pictorial quality as the portraits made by Rembrandt but the monotony of his theme bored the following generations. The importance of his work was restored in the mid-nineteenth century by Thoré-Bürger who was also the discoverer of Vermeer.
In the early 1630s, Hals reduces his palette to gray, brown and black with an infinite variety of shades in these three colors. He is by that way reaching the high end of purism without losing the pictorial quality. His palette of blacks will be admired by van Gogh.
On December 6 in London, Christie's sells a pair of oils on canvas forming pendants, 93 x 68 cm each, lot 10 estimated £ 8M, in an exceptional state of preservation.
This pair is the three-quarter length portrait of a couple, dated 1637, possibly commissioned for their wedding anniversary. The man and the woman each hold a pair of deerskin gloves that symbolize their union. They are not identified but their age is recorded : 37 years old for the man and 36 for the woman.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's showing four masterpieces from the Eric Albada Jelgersma collection.
Albada Jelgersma Collection ‘A Seminal Moment’ for Old Master Market, Says Christie’s https://t.co/djtV3ifd8l pic.twitter.com/zp6schgtMe
— Art Market Monitor (@artmarket) October 17, 2018
1637 Enjoyment of Senses by Ribera
2019 SOLD for £ 5.7M including premium
Born near Valencia, Ribera is attracted by Italy. In Rome, he is interested in the faces and attitudes of poor people, most certainly through an influence from the Caravaggesques of Utrecht. He paints a first series of the Five Senses, not without wit. Smell is a ragged beggar who peels an onion.
In 1616 Ribera, aged 25, arrives in Naples which is then a Spanish possession. He will never return to his country but wishes to state his origin by signing his works Jusepe de Ribera español. He is also nicknamed Lo Spagnoletto.
He paints other Senses in 1637 with allegories completely different from his earlier series. Hearing is a girl who plays the tambourine with an expression of deep happiness, personifying the pleasure of the senses. This oil on canvas 60 x 46 cm is estimated £ 5M for sale by Sotheby's in London on July 3, lot 24.
This figure was painted by Ribera at the end of his tenebrist phase, with a black background in the style of his friend Velazquez. In the series of popular types, she thus appears in the continuity of his picturesque bearded milking woman (Mujer barbuda) painted in 1631.
Clearly a pendant of similar size with the Tambourine girl, Taste is a hilarious drunkard. Candidates have been proposed for Smell and Touch, but Sight remains unidentified, without evidence that this series has ever been complete.
In 1616 Ribera, aged 25, arrives in Naples which is then a Spanish possession. He will never return to his country but wishes to state his origin by signing his works Jusepe de Ribera español. He is also nicknamed Lo Spagnoletto.
He paints other Senses in 1637 with allegories completely different from his earlier series. Hearing is a girl who plays the tambourine with an expression of deep happiness, personifying the pleasure of the senses. This oil on canvas 60 x 46 cm is estimated £ 5M for sale by Sotheby's in London on July 3, lot 24.
This figure was painted by Ribera at the end of his tenebrist phase, with a black background in the style of his friend Velazquez. In the series of popular types, she thus appears in the continuity of his picturesque bearded milking woman (Mujer barbuda) painted in 1631.
Clearly a pendant of similar size with the Tambourine girl, Taste is a hilarious drunkard. Candidates have been proposed for Smell and Touch, but Sight remains unidentified, without evidence that this series has ever been complete.
#AuctionUpdate On the Beat □: This charming portrait of a girl tapping a tambourine by Jusepe de Ribera makes a noise, singing to the tune of £5,743,000 – a new record for the artist. #SothebysOldMasters pic.twitter.com/R0OuYI9gJH
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) July 3, 2019
