Jan Brueghel the Younger Unknown Artist, 17t ..., The Virgin and Child in a Landscape

Jan Brueghel the Younger

1601 Antwerp - 1678 Antwerp

Unknown Artist, 17th century

The Virgin and Child in a Landscape

Oil on copper. 40.2 x 46 cm. Certificate

Dr. Klaus Ertz, September 2018. Provenance

From the Schleißheimer Gallery sale. - In South German family ownership since the 19th century. Literature

Cf.: K. Ertz: Jan Brueghel der Jüngere. Die Gemälde mit kritischem Oevrekatalog, 1984, p. 312-13, no. 144 and 145.

According to a 19th century inventory, this previously unknown work by Jan Brueghel II was purchased at auction from the Schleißheimer Galerie (?) by the family of the present owner. It can be brought into connection with two other works by this painter, one of which is housed in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (inv. no. 2404), another in private ownership (K. Ertz, op. cit.). Similarities are apparent in the figure of the Virgin, whose features follow a 16th century prototype based on the work of Adriaen Isenbrant, the author of which has not yet been identified. Another point of comparison is the vegetation surrounding the central figure, which Klaus Ertz confirms as being the work of the younger Jan Brueghel, which comprises a close-up view of foliage and plants in the foreground opening up onto a panoramic landscape.