Lot 5: THE MASTER OF THE FEMALE HALF-LENGTHS ACTIVE IN ANTWERP DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THE 16TH CENTURY

THE VIRGIN AND CHILD

measurements note
39.7 by 29 cm.; 15 5/8 by 11 1/2 in.

oil on panel, in a carved walnut tabernacle frame

PROVENANCE

Private Collection, Suffolk, from the early 19th century;
Thence by descent until recently.

NOTE

The Master takes his name from his favoured depiction of a variety of female figures in a half-length and small scale format. Typically these included representations of aristocratic young women reading, writing or playing musical instruments, extended often to include depictions of Mary Magdalene. The present work is characteristic of his representations of the Virgin and Child, which are frequently shown against a neutral background, often with a table in the foreground suporting the Christ Child and an open book. The motif of the Virgin handing fruit to her Son is also to be found in other compositions of this type, for example those sold New York, Christie's, 27 January 2000, lot 48 and in these Rooms, 12 December 1973, lot 3. The combination of this with the design of the Child at his Mother's breast is, however, unusual, although the latter recurs with variations in works sold London, Christie's, 10 December 2003, lot 4 and another is now in the Museo Lazaro Galdiano, Madrid (reproduced in M.J. Friedländer, Early Netherlandish Painting, vol. XII, Leyden and Brussels, 1975, plate 36). The relatively large number of related works grouped under this Master's name would suggest that they were in some part the product of a workshop rather than all by the same hand. A small group of landscapes of small format and high quality also associated with his hand betray the influence of Joachim Patenir and thus suggest that the workshop was most probably located in Antwerp.