Lot 66: Jan Symonsz. Pynas Alkmaar 1581/2 - 1631 Amsterdam , Study for an altar with the adoration of the shepherds, flanked by the annunciation and the baptism of christ bears inscription, lower right: latsman fec: pen and brown ink and wash, heightened

bears inscription, lower right: latsman fec: pen and brown ink and wash, heightened with white

measurements note 154 by 223mm

Kurt Bauch, 'Beiträge zum Werk der Vorläufer Rembrandts II. Zeichnungen von Jan Pynas', Oud Holland, LII, 1935, pp. 197-9, reproduced fig. 6

Prince Wladimir Argoutinsky-Dolgoroukoff, sale of his collection, Amsterdam, R.W.P. de Vries, 27 March 1925, lot 180 (as Lastman)

As Bauch pointed out (loc. cit.), this is the study by Pynas for a three-panel altarpiece, which was recorded in numerous old sale catalogues until the late 18th century, but is now lost. Given the rarity of such multiple altarpieces in the Netherlands at this time, the close correspondence between the present composition and the descriptions in these catalogues means that although no images of the altar are known, the connection is almost certain. It is also a very rare example of a full compositional drawing by Pynas. Stylistically, Bauch sees in this composition a combination of influences from Venetian art, and from the Roman world of Elsheimer and his contemporaries, presumably absorbed during Pynas' trip, or trips, to Italy. The 18th-century biographer Arnold Houbraken states that Jan Pynas accompanied Pieter Lastman to Italy in 1605, but if he did make such a trip, it was a relatively short one, as he is documented as living in Amsterdam at the beginning of 1607. More securely documented is a later trip to Rome, in 1617, when he signed and inscribed a drawing Jan Pynas ft/Roma 1617.υ1 1. Laban searching for the Household Gods, Amsterdam, Rijksprentenkabinet. See P. Schatborn & M. Schapelhouman, Dutch Drawings of the Seventeenth Century in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Artists born between 1580 and 1600, 2 vols., Amsterdam 1998, cat. no. 279