(Antwerp 1601–1678)
Christ Carrying the Cross,
oil on copper, 13.4 x 18.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
According to a paper label on the reverse inscribed in a late 18th-century hand, this painting was formerly in the collection of the ‘Citoyen’ Abriot;
European private collection

The present painting is accompanied by a certificate by Klaus Ertz (January 2014)

He writes: ‘The colours, whose relief can be felt with one’s fingertips, present themselves as bright and brilliant. The paints, applied in a thick impasto, are typical of the second half of the 1620s, the period when this work was executed. […] The painting illustrates the scene of Christ carrying the Cross from the New Testament, which is set against a landscape dominated by mountains and hills. The compositional scheme employed here is in keeping with that of the near-far landscape developed by Jan Brueghel the Elder in the early 17th century from the multi-plane landscape type and which eventually became the most successful compositional approach in Flemish landscape painting. […] What is particularly remarkable about the painting to be assessed here is the artist’s ability of painterly drama, which cannot be found in the art of the father (Jan Brueghel I) and whose most conspicuous feature is not so much the imaginary light, which mostly falls in from the left top, but rather its reverberation in the foreground and middle ground, both of which are virtually bathed in a soft glow. The contrast between the dark left foreground and the bright zone of the sky at the upper right, with its tall trees, augment the impressive impact that is created here […].’ The son’s painting was probably inspired by Jan Brueghel the Elder’s Procession to Calvary from around 1606 (now in the Kunsthaus Zürich, Betty and David M. Koetser Foundation).

For comparison and in order to corroborate the date, Ertz refers to the following works by Jan Brueghel the Younger:
(1) Mount Calvary (National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, c. 1626);
(2) The Adoration of the Magi (Alte Pinakothek, Munich, c. 1626);
(3) The Sermon by the Sea (National Museum, Stockholm, c. 1626)

Based on the comparison of the present painting with these three works, Ertz draws the following conclusion: ‘The painting to be assessed here is so similar to them in terms of the composition, the strong colours, and the choice of the theme that, in my opinion, a date of execution shortly after 1625 seems highly plausible. This is also suggested by the brushwork, which, following the father’s painting style, attends to the composition’s tiniest detail, and entirely coincides with my knowledge of Jan Brueghel the Younger’s oeuvre.’ In his summary, Ertz writes: ‘Although the landscape approach is similar to that of the father, the present painting is an autonomous and, due to its technical perfection, fantastic work of art that is typical of Flemish painting of the third decade of the 17th century.’