(Antwerp 1601–1678)
A landscape with Saint Hubert
oil on panel, 53.5 x 74.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private collection, Italy;
sale Lempertz, Cologne, 16th May 2015, lot 1054;
Private collection, Germany

We are grateful to Klaus Ertz for confirming the attribution after examiniation of the present painting in the original (written communication). The subject had already been depicted in a collaborative effort by Jan Brueghel the Elder and Peter Paul Rubens (The Vision of Saint Hubert, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, circa 1617/20).

According to the legend Hubert of Liège, while hunting, saw a stag with a shining crucifix between its antlers, and so he decided to dedicate his life to the service of the church. Hubert was one of the favourite saints of the governors Albrecht and Isabella Clara Eugenia of Austria. His hunting horn, which the saint carried on his belt, was kept as a relic in the chapel of Tervuren Castle near Brussels. With its thick forest setting, sensitively observed figures and animals, and exquisitely rendered details, the present painting is an interesting rediscovery in the oeuvre of Jan Brueghel the Younger. While influenced by his father’s model in important aspects, he moved the apparition to the left margin and therefore put more emphasis on the distant view of the landscape. Whereas in the Madrid model the hounds are grouped closely together, the animals appear to be scattered in a somewhat looser fashion here. Obviously the younger Brueghel also referred to his father’s drawings for inspiration.

The present work is unusual as Brueghel managed entirely without the usual help of a figure painter. In this respect the present painting differs from another version conserved at the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen in Neuburg Castle on the Danube in which the figures were painted by a collaborator of Rubens’ workshop. Ertz compares the present painting to the following works by the hand of Jan Brueghel the Younger and, considering it a relatively early work, dates it to the late 1620s:

1. The Vision of Saint Hubert (Galerie Joseph Guttmann, New York);

2. Forest Landscape with Saint Hubert(Neuburg Castle, dated 1621);

3. Venus and Adonis (sale, Christie’s, London, 10th December 1982, lot 44)

Provenance:
Private collection, Italy;
sale Lempertz, Cologne, 16th May 2015, lot 1054;
Private collection, Germany

We are grateful to Klaus Ertz for confirming the attribution after examiniation of the present painting in the original (written communication). The subject had already been depicted in a collaborative effort by Jan Brueghel the Elder and Peter Paul Rubens (The Vision of Saint Hubert, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, c. 1617/20).

According to the legend Hubert of Liège, while hunting, saw a stag with a shining crucifix between its antlers, and so he decided to dedicate his life to the service of the church. Hubert was one of the favourite saints of the governors Albrecht and Isabella Clara Eugenia of Austria. His hunting horn, which the saint carried on his belt, was kept as a relic in the chapel of Tervuren Castle near Brussels. With its thick forest setting, sensitively observed figures and animals, and exquisitely rendered details, the present painting is an interesting rediscovery in the oeuvre of Jan Brueghel the Younger. While influenced by his father’s model in important aspects, he moved the apparition to the left margin and therefore put more emphasis on the distant view of the landscape. Whereas in the Madrid model the hounds are grouped closely together, the animal appear to be scattered in a somewhat looser fashion here. Obviously the younger Brueghel also referred to his father’s drawings for inspiration.

The present work is unusual as Brueghel managed entirely without the usual help of a figure painter. In this respect the present painting differs from another version conserved at the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen in Neuburg Castle on the Danube in which the figures were painted by a collaborator of Rubens’ workshop. Ertz compares the present painting to the following works by the hand of Jan Brueghel the Younger and, considering it a relatively early work, dates it to the late 1620s:

1. The Vision of Saint Hubert (Galerie Joseph Guttmann, New York);

2. Forest Landscape with Saint Hubert(Neuburg Castle, dated 1621);

3. Venus and Adonis (sale, Christie’s, London, 10 December 1982, lot 44)