Lot 61: Jacob van Oost , Bruges 1601-1671 The Supper at Emmaus oil on canvas, unlined, unframed

signed lower right: I. VAN OOST oil on canvas, unlined, unframed

measurements note 109.2 by 156.7 cm.

Oedelem, 1979.

'Emmaüsgangers toevallig ontdekt', Het Volk, LXXXIX, no. 83, 7/8 April 1979, p. 1;
'Van Oost', De Standaard, LVI, no. 99, 9 April 1979, p. 5;
'Werk van waarde ontdekt', Gazet van Antwerpen, no. 84, 9 April 1979, p. 6;
'Bruggeling kocht onbekend werk van Jacob van Oost', Brugsch Handelsblad, LXXIV, no. 15, 13 April 1979, p. 11;
J.L. Meulemeester, Jacob van Oost de Oudere en het zeventiende-eeuwse Brugge, Brugge 1984, pp. 158, 262-3, cat. no. A18, reproduced p. 151, fig. 127.

Possibly Saint Donaas Cathedral, Bruges;
Collection Perneel, Bruges;
Anonymous sale, Bruges, unknown location, 21 March 1979, where acquired by the present owner.

THE PROPERTY OF A FAMILY
Prior to his return in 1628 to his native town of Bruges, Van Oost spent several years in Italy, where he was greatly influenced by the innovative Caravaggio, as becomes evident in the present work.

In this representation of the Supper at Emmaus, Christ is shown at the moment of blessing the bread and revealing his true identity to the two disciples. This composition clearly reveals Van Oost's first hand knowledge of Caravaggio's works, and in particular the latter's Supper at Emmaus in the National Gallery, London (inv. no. 172).υ1 Both the well-structured composition and the colour palette with clever chiaroscuro effects may be compared with Caravaggio's treatment of the subject. Moreover, the posture of the figure on the left, almost in silhouette, who is about to rise out of his chair, appears to be borrowed directly from Carvaggio's painting.
Meulemeester suggests a date to around 1640-45 for the present work on the basis of stylistic similarities with other of his works Van Oost produced around that time.υ2

1. See B. Nicolson, Caravaggism in Europe, Oxford 1979, vol. 1, p. 79, cat. no. 48, reproduced vol. 2, fig. 48.
2. Meulemeester under Literature, p. 158.