School of Bruges, 16th Century

Adoration of the Shepherds,
oil on panel, 91 x 78.8 cm, framed

Provenance:
with Paul Cassirer Gallery, Berlin, 1922 (according to Marlier);
Collection Raul Edwards Mac-Clure Esq. (1880–1927), Santiago, Chile, acquired there in the early 1920s;
thence by descent to his daughter, Mrs Carmen Edwards de Ferari (1909–2003), Santiago, Chile;
thence by descent to her nephew;
sale, Sotheby’s, London, 7 July 2005, lot 110;
sale, Sotheby’s, London, 26 April 2007, lot 14

Literature:
G. Marlier, Ambrosius Benson e la peinture à Bruges au temps de Charles-Quint, Damme 1957, p. 287, no. 22 (as Ambrosius Benson and Studio)

There exists a slightly smaller variant of the present Adoration of the Shepherds that forms the central panel of a triptych in the town hall of Segovia (see G. Marlier, op. cit., cat. no. 2, pp. 280/81, plate LIV). The wings of this triptych show the saints Anthony of Padua and Jerome. Marlier describes both compositions as products of the collaboration between Ambrosius Benson and his workshop. The differences between the two paintings cannot be overlooked. Whereas in the Spanish version the scenery is bathed in daylight and an angel and a shepherd have been added to the composition, the present painting is set at night, which makes the painting more unique.