Lot 14: THE MASTER OF THE FEMALE HALF-LENGTHS

THE MASTER OF THE FEMALE HALF-LENGTHS ACTIVE IN ANTWERP DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THE 16TH CENTURY THE VIRGIN AND CHILD WITH AN APPLE AND AN OPEN BOOK oil on panel 35.8 by 26.4 cm.

Anonymous sale, New York, Christie's, 27 January 2000, lot 48.

The body of works grouped under the anonymous Master of the Female Half-Lengths is now widely perceived to have been produced by a group of artists working in the same workshop. Considered by Friedländer to have been one of the most successful artists working in Antwerp in the second quarter of the sixteenth century, the Master is known for a group of landscapes which derive stylistically from Joachim Patinir (1475/80-1524) as well as a series of half-length figures which tend to depict the Magdalene or elegantly dressed ladies writing or playing music. As is characteristic of the Master's depictions of the Virgin and Child, the background of the present work is neutral and does not distract our attention from the intimacy of the figures, differing from the busier settings commonly depicted in his single-figures designs. The composition should be compared to a similar work sold London, Sotheby's, 8 July 2010, lot 101.