Lot 109: Jacob Cornelisz. van Oostsanen, called Jacob van Amsterdam (Osstsanen? c. 1472/7-c. 1533 Amsterdam)

The Adoration of the Magi dated '1520' (upper centre, on the pediment) oil on panel 33 x 213/4 in. (83.9 x 55.2 cm.) PROVENANCE Private Collection, Amsterdam, 1935. R. von Kaufmann, Berlin. Sommerguth Collection, Berlin, by 1975. LITERATURE M.J. Friedl„nder, Early Netherlandish Painting, XI, Leiden, 1975, pp. 57 and 114, under no. 239, as dated 1520. NOTES This is an autograph replica of the central panel of a triptych of The Adoration of the Magi formerly in the collection of Prince Wied, Neuwied (see M.J. Friedl„nder, op. cit., no. 291, figs. 128-9), which is dated 1517 in the same location. A further replica, dated 1536, is recorded by Friedl„nder as having been on the Paris art market in 1929 ( loc. cit. ). The quality of the present work remains extremely high, for example in the delicate handling of the drapery of the Magi - particularly the gilded robe of Caspar - the gentle and sympathetic expressions of the principal figures and the strength of the artist's perspective. Although Jacob's first dated works are from 1507 (the Noli me Tangere in Schloss Wilhelmshohe, Kassel, and the series of woodcuts of The Life of the Virgin, Holstein nos. 83-9), he had obviously established some success and prosperity by that date, having been able to purchase a house in 1500. The linear and patterned style of Jacob's early work suggest that the young artist may have trained as a goldsmith or woodcut designer; however, from around the time of the Neuwied triptych, his style softened, and the present work is an example of that newer approach, perhaps reflecting the influence of Jacob's contemporary, Cornelis Engelbrechtsz.