Lot 21: Matthias Stom (Amersfoort circa 1600-circa 1652 Sicily or Northern Italy) The Adoration of the Magi

Matthias Stom
(Amersfoort circa 1600-circa 1652 Sicily or Northern Italy)
The Adoration of the Magi oil on canvas149 x 182.7cm (58 11/16 x 71 15/16in).

Provenance: Sale, Christie's, London, 26 November 1965, lot 108 (100 gns. to Markham) Collection of Brian Sewell, LondonLiteratureDr. A. von Schneider, 'Neue Zuschreibungen a Mattias Stoomer', Oud-Holland, 41, 1923-24, p. 226, ill., before reductionB. Nicolson, 'Stomer brought up-to-date', The Burlington Magazine, CXIX, no. 889, April 1977, p.237, p. 242, appendix 113B. Nicolson, The International Caravaggesque Movement, Oxford, 1979, p. 93B. Nicolson, Caravaggism in Europe, Oxford, 1979, vol. I, p.182 (as a fragment), vol. III, figs. 1529 and 1530The Adoration of the Magi was a popular subject for Stomer and three further versions are known. The earliest of these date to his Neapolitan years, circa 1633-1639, are both vertical in format, and depict 10 and 8 figures respectively: in the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm (on canvas, 175 x 172cm); and in Musée des Augustins, Toulouse (on canvas, 229 x 180cm). Nicholson suggests that the present work, which was cut down (see fig 1) prior to the 1965 sale, was painted in Sicily in the 1640s and a slightly later, also horizontal, work of the same subject is in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen (on canvas, 96 x 136cm).